Africa Action

Africa Action is the name the organization adopted in 2001, after three organizations, the American Committee on Africa, the Africa Fund, and the Africa Policy Information Center, merged.

The American Committee on Africa (ACOA) was founded in New York City in 1953 by George Houser and other activists.[1] It was created by a group of black and white civil rights activists led by Bayard Rustin under name Committee to Support South African Resistance, who had organized support for the historic Defiance Campaign in South Africa the previous year. In the book, No Easy Victories, ACOA is described as the “premier U.S. Africa solidarity organization”. It became this way through “coalition building… work with the young United Nations and by cultivating good relationships with emerging African leaders.” [2] New York was a center of activity for ACOA through the 1980s in organizing anti-apartheid activities.

The Africa Fund, founded in 1966, worked with ACOA to provide key support for independence movements throughout Africa. During the anti-apartheid movement, the Africa Fund became the "principal contact point for progressive trade unionists and politicians." They encouraged US firms and stockholders to divest in South Africa and published updated lists of U.S. companies involved there.[2]

The Africa Policy Information Center (APIC) was founded in Washington, DC in 1978. It produced research, analysis and education materials designed to widen the debate in the United States around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa.

According to their website, Africa Action is a national organization for political, economic and social justice in Africa. Africa Action contends that the U.S. has a special historic responsibility toward Africa. It also believes that racism has been and is a major determinant of U.S. policies toward Africa, Africans and U.S. citizens of African descent. Members of the organization value Africa and its peoples, and seek to work in partnership with Africans. Today, together with activists and civil society organizations throughout the United States and in Africa, Africa Action works to change U.S. foreign policy and the policies of international institutions to support African struggles for peace and development.[3]

Africa Action believes that it is in the U.S.’ interest that, within each African region, countries and peoples should be able to advance the common goals of achieving security, democracy and development. While the paths to these objectives may differ, they are inseparable. Economic progress cannot be isolated from the needs for security and expansion of democratic rights.

Rational strategies to pursue these goals cannot be designed purely in terms of bilateral relations with selected countries. At the same time, it is not feasible to give equal weight to U.S. relations with each African country.

Africa Action singles out five African nations as "focus countries" where the U.S. must be consistently involved: South Africa, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Algeria.

Each "focus country" meets most or all of the following criteria: (1) they are large countries with large populations (usually the largest in the sub-region); (2) they boast the strongest and most industrialized economies in their respective regions; (3) they are presently among the largest trading partners for the U.S. in Africa (and the largest in their sub-region); (4) the U.S. has diverse and longstanding interests in them (economic, political, social and security); and (5) they are potential economic and political powerhouses of their respective regions.

These countries are all key actors within their respective regions, whose cooperation will be invaluable to resolving a wide range of problems. They are likely to be either forces for regional security or sources of regional instability. Finally, there are domestic constituencies in the U.S. concerned with policy toward each of these countries that can help build and sustain public support for new U.S. initiatives.

Giving priority to these countries should not be confused with making unconditional alliances with their ruling elites, with seeking to build them up as regional hegemonic powers, or with granting them automatic first-call with regard to economic assistance. Rather, U.S. policy towards each of these key countries must encompass the realities of each region they are a part of, and encourage constructive dialogue and collective problem solving among neighbors.

Americans must also recognize that the U.S. has special historical responsibilities toward a select number of other countries—Liberia, Angola, Somalia, and Sudan—that warrant particular attention. The policy approaches to these countries will also be most effective if integrated into policies toward their respective regions.

Sustained attention to "focus countries" should always be placed within the respective regional context. Thus, there should be a Southern Africa policy while acknowledging that South Africa is a priority within the region, and a West African policy that recognizes Nigeria's centrality to U.S. concerns in that region. What happens in the DRC, will have profound effects on the prospects for its neighbors. Although their regional weight is less overwhelming, Kenya and Algeria will also have major impacts on their respective regions.

• Official website
• The African Activist Archive Project website includes a description and material (documents, posters, photographs, buttons, T-shirts, audio, video) of the American Committee on Africa (ACOA) and The Africa Fund.