vol. XVI no. 2

				Atlanta and Wildife Tourism: Keys to Economic Growth in Africa Because of the strength of its international airport, Atlanta is crucial to tourism in Africa, says former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young. And tourism - particularly wildlife tourism - is vital to the economic future of southern Africa. "Atlanta is the key to Africa's tourism and the sooner they realize it, the better off they are going to be simply because we're the best hub in the world," Young said in a wide-ranging interview with The State of Business. He also talked about the most promising industries and countries in Africa's future, the steps the continent must take to overcome its dependence on traditional world powers and his own company's plans for Africa. Young, who served three terms as a congressman from Atlanta, two years as U.N. ambassador and two terms as mayor of Atlanta, has played a pivotal role in persuading airlines to add Atlanta-to-Africa flights. He still travels to Africa at least every other month. He is convinced that wildlife tourism is the economic sector with the most promise in southern Africa. "Nobody in the rest of the world can compete with Africa in tourism." Tourism generates more jobs per dollar than almost any other industry, he said, and few jobs in the industry demand advanced degrees, except what Young called "a Ph.D. in kindness and courtesy." The minister-politician-diplomat travels the globe as head of his Atlanta-based company, Good Works International. One of its major projects is building a port at the mouth of the Congo River at Cabinda, Angola, for its client, Chevron. Angola currently produces 800,000 barrels of oil per day and has estimated oil reserves of 10 billion barrels. Young said he and his company have been working with Angolans to "try to help them see the power of what I call 'public purpose capitalism.'" As an example, he tells them how the Atlanta airport expansion was funded. "We didn't tax the people for it. We didn't raise government funds. We went to the private money markets and created a separate corporation and developed our own independent borrowing power and our own credit rating." In all, he points to $10 billion in development at the airport "that has not cost the Atlanta taxpayers one cent. And we did that with Underground Atlanta and we did that with the Georgia Dome. And now we're trying to do it in Angola with the port." Atlanta has long had strong links with Africa, not only because of the connection between leaders of the American civil rights movement with such African leaders as Nelson Mandela but also because of the historic outreach of The Coca-Cola Company, which Young points out is the largest employer on the African continent. "Coca-Cola has had a very wise and aggressive Africa policy, largely because former CEO J. Paul Austin spent 14 years in South Africa before he came back to Atlanta, so he knew Africa well," Young said. As for small businesses in Atlanta that have reached out to Africa, Young says most have lost money. "The cost of doing business is prohibitive in Africa right now, unless you are very well connected, unless you go with a major corporation," he said. "I figure it costs you $10,000 a week on average." The figure includes plane fare, lodging, cars and other expenses, including "somebody you know and trust who can take you around because it simply takes too long to get to see people." In giving advice about doing business in Africa, Young said he has discouraged people who are trying to "get rich quick." "Everybody who goes to Africa to try to make money fast loses one way or the other," he said. "The people who think they can pay off somebody to get a contract almost always get taken. And they are the ones that come back talking about corruption. The problem with corruption is that it is part of their way of life, as it is in China, as it is in Russia. It is part of the extended family concept of survival, so the idea of a free and open competitive bid is really strange. But we have to remember it was strange in Chicago until the mid-1980s." Even companies on the straight and narrow can run into trouble. He recalled one firm that won a contract for waste water and sewer facilities in an African capital. It was paid 70 percent of the total as the work progressed, but the 30 percent due on completion of the project was never paid because the government was overthrown. The company then had trouble trying to prove the loss to the IRS back home. As a solution, Good Works International "tries to help major American companies come in and then bring along small business contractors with them." In particular, Young said, "Anybody in the oil business ought to be able to make money and anybody related as a subcontractor to the oil companies is almost guaranteed of success because the oil is there and it is going to be there for 50 years." The economic potential of South Africa is enormous as well, he said, because of its raw materials, transportation routes, ports and engineers. In addition, the country has a strong wildlife tourism industry and stable political and economic leadership. Young believes the biggest impediment that Africa must overcome is its dependence on others. "Africa has got to learn to believe in itself and to solve its own problems," he said. "There is still a colonial mentality that is looking to the United States and the world to solve HIV problems, when all around them it is being solved." For example, in Senegal, traditional healers are experiencing remarkable results in treating AIDS with local herbs and only charge 30 cents per visit, he said. Young pointed out the strong spiritual links between America and South Africa. "The Judeo-Christian missionary tradition that was so powerful in education here after slavery was similarly powerful in Africa," he said. "The kind of spirit you have among the ordinary people is very similar to what we've had - a very deep sense of spirituality, a sense of justice, of fairness, of mercy that makes it a wonderful place to live and work." Top

Copyright © 2003 Robinson College of Business/Georgia State University.