The New York Foreign Press hosted Jendayi Frazer, Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of African Affairs on Friday, September 26. Ms Frazer discussed the burgeoning relationship between the US and African countries.

The Assistant Secretary briefed journalists on bilateral talks with African heads of state including those of Malawi, Kenya, Cameroon and Uganda. In a briefing attended mostly by African journalists, Ms Frazer cited the growing contribution of the US to the Aids epidemic on the continent, and highlighted the administration's new initiative to combat malaria. She emphasized the enormous responsibility that the US has assumed in fighting poverty with the injection of more than 5 billion dollars to areas most affected by economic stagnation. The aim of the US government, according to the Assistant Secretary is assisting African countries in maximizing agricultural output through incentives and infrastructural development.

In the area of politics, she stressed the importance of democratization, honoring the electoral process, and political transparency. On the question of Zimbabwe, she conceded that the US will work with the purported power sharing arrangement between Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, although there was still cause for reservation. Here, she identified the inability to agree on distribution of cabinet positions, and the failure of the government to issue a passport to Mr. Tsvangirai as thorny issues.

Ms Frazer viewed Somalia, Sudan and Nigeria as countries where destabilizing elements exist, and called for a strategic change of President Omar Al Bashir's policies in Sudan, in the way similar to that of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. She concluded by stressing the US commitment to humanitarian relief amid political turmoil in parts of the continent.

*Glenville Ashby is a journalist based in New York, and a PhD candidate in Diplomacy and International Affairs at Euclid University (www.euclid.int)