The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers a number of programs which involve African countries. These programs range in scope from direct food aid to foreign market development to technical assistance. USDA’s largest responsibility concerning Africa is the administration of the Public Law 480 (P.L. 480) programs in conjunction with the Agency for International Development. In Fiscal Year 1976, USDA spent or helped manage the spending of $349,524,000 in Africa, of which $345,063,000 fell under P.L. 480. Because the P.L. 480 programs are so extensive, and are funded with money appropriated to AID, they are discussed in their own separate section. In this section, USDA programs, aside from P.L. 480, are reviewed.

Within the Department of Commerce, the Domestic and International Business Administration, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Bureau of the Census have ongoing involvement in Africa and African affairs. NOAA and the Bureau of the Census operate in Africa as well as in Washington.

The Domestic and International Business Administration puts out information on economic and marketing conditions in African countries in two series of annual publications: Foreign Economic Trends and Their Implications for the United States (FETs) and Overseas Business Reports (OBRs). Both of these series are published in conjunction with the U.S. Foreign Service.

The following information was received from the Department of Defense (DOD). Since no narrative information was provided, the material is reproduced exactly as received. Both dollars figures and personnel classification codes appear under the heading “Annual Costs” below. A key to DOD’s personnel classification code was requested but not received.

Within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), the Office of Education, the Office of Human Development, the Public Health Service, the Social Security Administration, and the former Social and Rehabilitation Service (now part of the Office of Human Development) all have a role of one sort or another in Africa or African affairs. HEW activities range from educational grants to research studies to the training of Africans. The programs carried on by each office are discussed below.

The United States Department of the Interior is responsible for several programs in Africa through the U.S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Mines, and the National Park Service. These programs range in scope from training programs to technical assistance to research for the Bureau of Mines annual publication. The Minerals Yearbook.

The Department of State’s role in Africa is to represent the United States Government and further American foreign policy objectives on the continent. Africa-related expenditures can be divided into four major areas: salaries and operating expenses; acquisition, development, and construction of buildings abroad; the Exchange of Persons Program; and other expenditures. Salaries and operating expenses for personnel and activities concerning Africa are discussed below under the section on the Bureau of African Affairs. Acquisition, development, and construction of buildings abroad expenditures are outlined under the country summaries in which the expenditures occur. (Country summaries appear in the Africa Bureau section). The Exchange of Persons Program is described under the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Other expenditures include the involvement of State Department Bureaus, such as the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, among others, in African affairs, and are discussed under the appropriate bureau headings. The Agency for International Development (AID), a semi-autonomous agency within the State Department, carries on extensive programs in Africa. AID involvement in some 28 African countries is discussed following the State Department bureau descriptions below.

The Agency for International Development (AID) is the primary vehicle for United States economic and humanitarian assistance to less developed countries. AID carries on functional development assistance programs in food production, population planning, health, education, and other areas of economic development in countries throughout the Near East, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. AID also supports the efforts of several international organizations, such as the United Nations Development Program, in these areas. In addition, AID carries on regional and interregional programs to supplement its efforts in specific countries. Under an interagency agreement with the Department of Agriculture, AID helps coordinate and administer Public Law 480 (“Food for Peace”) assistance to underdeveloped countries (see Public Law 480 Programs section).

The Department of Transportation’s role in Africa is limited to the involvement of the Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Office of International Transportation Programs currently has no dealings with African nations, although it has had some in the past. The Coast Guard maintains a small station in Liberia which consists of one officer and a team of enlisted men. Three Africans, two from Zaire and one from Liberia, attended the Coast Guard’s Officer Candidate School four-month program in 1976.

The Department of Labor is involved in Africa and African affairs in two areas: training programs and technical assistance. The Department itself has no budget for programs in Africa; hence all funding for Labor’s activities comes from other government agencies or independent organizations such as the United Nations and the International Labor Office.

The Department of the Treasury has a limited involvement in Africa through the United States’ membership in the African Development Fund (AFDF) which the Treasury oversees. Members of the Fund are seventeen non-regional donor countries and the African Development Bank, representing its forty-five member states. The U.S. joined the Fund in November, 1975 with an initial contribution of $15 million or 4 per cent of $340 million pledged to AFDF as of April, 1977. The Administration has asked Congress to appropriate an additional $10 million in the FY 1978 budget. This figure represents 0.38 per cent of the funds requested by Treasury for international development banks in FY 1978 and 0.033 per cent of the Treasury’s total requested budget.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) currently has no direct involvement in Africa. The last trip to Africa made by a HUD official was Deputy Assistant Secretary Sam Jackson’s visit in 1972. Twenty-three Africans attended HUD training programs in 1976; they came from the following countries: Ghana—3; Kenya—2; Nigeria—7; Senegal—1; South Africa—5; Tanzania—3; and Zambia—2. HUD has no bilateral agreements with African nations.

Title I and Title II of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, as ammended (P.L. 480) authorize both concessional sales and donations of agricultural goods to less developed countries. The goals of the P.L. 480 programs, as stated in the Act, are “to expand international trade; to develop and expand export markets for United States agricultural commodities; to use the abundant agricultural productivity of the United States to combat hunger and malnutrition and to encourage economic development in the developing countries, with particular emphasis on assistance to those countries that are determined to improve their own agricultural production; and to promote in other ways the foreign policy of the United States” (Agricultural Development and Assistance Act of 1954, as ammended, p. 1).

The United States Information Agency (USIA) carries on a variety of programs in twenty-five sub-Saharan African countries. USIA activities include “the operation of American libraries in 25 principle and 10 branch posts; placement in local media of films, radio programs, texts, and articles; distribution of Agency-produced periodicals and other printed materials, including the popular magazine Topic, especially edited for African audiences; sponsorship of lectures and seminars on subjects such as economics, foreign affairs, and American life; presentation of American musicians, performers, and artists; and assistance to American firms and embassies in promoting U.S. “commercial objectives abroad” (USIA Activities in Africa).

The Agency for Volunteer Service administers volunteer-orinted programs in the United States and in developing countries abroad. ACTION’s international programs are coordinated and administered by the Peace Corps, which is currently situated in twenty-three African countries. The aim of ACTION International Programs “is to promote world peace and friendship through the Peace Corps and to provide technical assistance and encouragement to the development of volunteer activities in less developed countries and internationally.”

The General Accounting Office’s (GAO) role in African affairs is limited to reviewing various United States programs in Africa, assessing the impact of economic policy actions against African nations, and compiling reports on other forms of U.S. involvement in Africa. A list of issued reports and current assignments involving fieldwork in Africa appears below.

The purpose of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Eximbank) is to “assist in financing and to facilitate export sales of U.S. equipment and services” (Letter of July 18, 1977). Eximbank does not allocate its resources by geographic area; rather it responds to requests for support of American export sales on a case-by-case basis. Eximbank extends its credit in a number of ways. In conjuction with the Foreign Credit Insurance Association, Eximbank “insures short-term (up to 180 days) and medium-term (181 days to 5 years) export credit provided by the private sector.” Second, Eximbank “guarantees the repayment of medium-term export credit extended by U.S. banks to foreign buyers, without recourse to U.S. exporters.” Third, it “facilitates exports of major capital equipment, requiring repayment terms over 5 years through direct loans to foreign buyers for a portion of the required financing.”

The purpose of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is “to mobilize and facilitate the participation of United States private capital and skills in the economic and social development of less developed friendly countries and areas, thereby complementing the development assistance objectives of the United States” (Foreign Assistance Act of 1969, quoted in Investment Insurance Handbook, p. 3). OPIC seeks to accomplish this through providing investment insurance and financing to corporations which are willing to invest in less developed countries. “In all instances the projects OPIC supports must assist in the social and economic development of the country, and must be consistent with the economic interests of the United States” (Investment Financing Handbook p. 3).