After sending an email to Constance Hamilton, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa, we received the following email in response:
Thank you, Mr. Easterly, for your email. We of course, want to have as
many sub-Saharan African countries as possible be eligible for AGOA
benefits. We are working with all the countries, including Madagascar
– to encourage their governments to abide by the AGOA eligibility
criteria, particularly rule of law. There has been some recent progress
amongst the Malagasy actors involved which gives us some hope. But at
the end of the day, an unstable political environment, no regard for
rule of law, etc. will undermine Madagascar’s future, ongoing
investment, and the lives of its people more than any one preference
program or initiative. We hope that it is their understanding of that
point that will keep them moving forward with restoring democracy and
rule of law in Madagascar.
Regards,
Connie Hamilton
4 Comments
I like that but a firm statement on the last Addis-Abbeba Power sharing signed agreement will be efficient. Coup leaders including Andry Rajoelina do fear only 2 things: their assets outside Madagascar and the ability to travel freely as people in charge. The US have the power to threaten them asap because people are starving and the all economy in very bad shape.
Solofo
The secretary general of COMESA brought this issue up at a hearing of the House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Trade on 11/17. He asked that policy makers be given more flexibility to use non-trade sanctions like travel bans and asset freezes on the actual offending individuals in the country rather than slamming the whole economy. I was more skeptical of his argument that eligibility should be granted at a higer level (i.e., trading bloc) which would create incentives for members to peer-review and discipline nations who threatened the bloc’s eligibility. The congresspeople in attendance were more interested in publicly demonstrating their concern for U.S.-based textile manufacturers and bashing China than exploring these issues further though.
Sadly taking away single mother’s jobs and forcing them into prostitution in order to feed their children will have little effect on the illustrious leaders of Madagascar because they could not care less about the people. Taking away ALGOA eligibility does nothing to bring Madagascar back to constitutional order it just makes poor people even poorer. There are more productive measures such as stopping the import of illegally felled precious timber (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/nov/20/gibson-guitars-raided) and as Solofo Rafeno points out freezing assets and imposing travel restrictions on the coup leaders.
I closely follow the AGOA/Madagascar train wreck.
Canceling AGOA has been held up as a stick to try to influence the political movements to come together to create a transitional shared power government. Today (Sat Nov 21) the movements stated they will not be naming a transition government and will have to hold another meeting in another country to talk it over some more. This posturing has gone on for months.
Continuing AGOA will only serve to establish that there is never a stick in development, only carrots. In this case a carrot that will ratify the authority of the young coup leader and his gang who overthrew an elected President and stole a country. I note with interest that a few posts ago the subject of MCC was discussed. Madagascar was the first country to receive a MCC grant, and the first country to have one canceled for its end of democracy. I have no problem with aid being conditional for performance. I have a problem of a failure to hold the aid recipient to the conditions.
Madagascar is like a good friend with a cocaine problem. They know their behavior is self destructive but dont care. No one can help them change their life until they want to change or (more likely) they hit rock bottom. With nothing left to sell, or no one left to borrow from, no job, no house, no spouse they may find the will to rehab.
The crying shame of the entire debacle is that those who will be hurt the worst (workers, their families and those whom they support with their wages) are the least to blame and those who have profited and will continue to profit from the coup in Madagascar will be completely unfazed by the economic losses of the affected. Those who led this theft of an entire country have already stolen hundreds of millions of dollars and if/when they leave power will enjoy a very comfortable exile in Paris.
If AGOA is continued and if the US is to have any suasion, pointed sanctions at those who created this disaster must be the alternative; frozen bank accounts, no visas to the US
There isnt a good answer, to this dilemma only various bad answers.
Comments after the Aug blog discussed African trade as the alternative to aid. Inter African trade may be germane in some other jurisdiction. Here in Madagascar only yesterday one of the most egregious of the coup leaders stated that his soap company had not been able to expand its operations since 1967 due to competition from imported soaps. Soaps that most notably come from another African country Mauritius. The coup government withdrew from SADC because of reduced tariffs granted to African countries.
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