Several regions in the USA are world-class leaders in advanced technologies and their applications, hubs for the international network of technology business.
Africa is a continent comprised of diverse countries, each of which is developing at a different rate, many of which are dynamic emerging economies, some of which are pivotal states to American national strategic interests, one of which (South Africa) has been identified by the U.S. Department of Commerce as one of ten “Big Emerging Markets” that will get the attention of American trade and development.
MAREK’s objective is to link advanced American technologies to the enormous economic development that is now in train among the emerging markets of Africa. It is true that these African markets lag behind those in East Asia, Latin America, eastern Europe, and the states of the former Soviet Union in their development. But, they offer incredible opportunity for the long-term.
American exports to sub-Saharan Africa amounted to $4.5 billion in 1995, higher than all American exports to eastern Europe or to the republics of the former Soviet Union.
The official position of the U.S. Government is that the U.S. will no longer concede the African marketplace to the European colonial powers. Secretary of Commerce Brown has made Africa one of his personal projects. For example, he is enroute to Africa now to advocate and promote $9 billion worth of business transactions.
At the moment, Africa commands little attention among American technologists, leaving the field open to the to those who might wish to take a commanding leadership role quickly and, perhaps, largely unchallenged.
