Herman, Jesse Jackson Arrive For AAA Summit

May 17, 1999
Copyright © 1999 Panafrican News Agency. All Rights Reserved.

ACCRA, Ghana (PANA) - US Labour Secretary Alexis Herman arrived in Accra
Monday at the head of a 35-member delegation to attend the five-day
African-African American Summit underway in the Ghanaian capital.

The entourage includes The Reverend Jesse Jackson, a US special envoy for
the promotion of democracy in Africa, and other senior government
officials.

Herman said the delegation's arrival reaffirmed US President Bill Clinton's
commitment to forge closer ties with Ghana and the people of Africa as a
whole.

She said the summit also opens a new chapter in US-Ghana relations and that
they are looking forward to fruitful deliberations during the summit.

Herman, who accompanied Clinton during his historic visit to Ghana last
year, said the return to Ghana would give her delegation the opportunity to
reaffirm the level of bilateral co-operation between the two countries.

Jackson commended President Jerry Rawlings for his able leadership in
Ghana's economic recovery programme, especially the Ashanti Goldfields
Company and the Ghana Stock Exchange which he said are doing well on the
international market.

He added that the US has a positive image of Rawlings as a leader.

Jackson said African Americans have a role to play in conflict resolution
in Africa and hopes to go to Togo after the summit to help in brokering
peace in the Sierra Leonean crisis.

He said they are also concerned about the situation in Eritrea and Ethiopia
as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, adding that diplomatic means
would be used in finding lasting solutions to the crises.

He said problems facing Africa like AIDS, the debt burden and prevalence of
land mines in war-torn areas, should not over-shadow opportunities that
abound in Africa.

''Our interest in Africa is broad and deep and our commitment is eternal.''

Jackson recalled the pioneering role of Kwame Nkrumah and W.E.B Dubois in
Pan-Africanism and the struggle against apartheid and segregation in South
Africa by President Nelson Mandela.

Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, Minster of Employment and Social Welfare, thanked
the delegation and hoped that they would have fruitful deliberations during
the summit.

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From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

African Americans show support for Africa

A big meeting has begun in Ghana of African-American politicians and
business leaders - and their African counterparts to try to promote
investment in Africa.

Some four thousand people are expected to attend - among them eighteen
African heads of state, the American civil rights activist, Jesse Jackson,
and the vice president of the soft drinks manufacturer, Coca Cola.

The chairman of the conference, Leon Sullivan, described the five-day
gathering as an opportunity to bring America and Africa together for the
benefit of Africa's poor. It's the fifth and the biggest such gathering to
be held so far.