This is the first new head of Africa for the US Chamber of Commerce in eight years. Kendra Gaither is committed to grabbing the opportunity and strengthening business relationships that are still far from realizing their full potential. It’s a chilly day, and Gaither has just been directing engagement with Africa at the US Chamber of Commerce for a month when she welcomes The Africa Report into her office. After being chosen the center’s president on October 18, Gaither steps back from the daily commotion over the following forty-five minutes to give a 10,000-foot picture of her vision for US-Africa commerce.
Gaither’s vision for US-Africa policy
At the trade association’s historic offices, which is located just across Lafayette Square Park from the White House, it’s a normal busy day. After meeting with President Joe Biden, Gaither’s team is frantically trying to get Angolan President João Lourenço to stop by and talk. They are currently in the US-Africa Business Center. “I do think that this moment right now is extremely special,” Gaither adds, referring to the Biden administration’s renewed engagement with the continent and the African Union’s progress toward establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Recognized as the biggest lobbying organization in the United States, the US Chamber was established in 1912 when many regional business associations responded to President William Howard Taft’s request for the establishment of a national corporate voice. Although the chamber’s opaque financial structure is allegedly dominated by multinational firms, it still claims to represent three million businesses nationwide, the majority of which are small and medium-sized businesses. Even though the chamber has been losing political power recently due to a rise in corporate skepticism, especially from the populist right, it nonetheless spent around $80 million on lobbying in Washington in 2022, according to its reports to the public. “There’s often an expectation that these are the very big players, the Fortune 500 companies, when there’s a discussion around how to connect African nations and African businesses with the United States and US businesses,” Gaither adds. “But it’s much more inclusive, vibrant, and nuanced than that.”
Kendra Gaither’s influence on African diplomacy
The Chamber didn’t start its Africa initiative until 2009, the first year of President Barack Obama’s administration. In 2015, the program developed into the fully functional business center it is today. That year, Gaither became a member of the chamber’s Americas section, where she played a significant role in founding and leading the US-Colombia Business Council as its first executive director. She succeeds Scott Eisner, the center’s founding president, who is currently a senior vice president in the International and Trade Practice at the prestigious Washington-based lobbying firm BGR Group. Prior to joining the Chamber, Gaither oversaw the Center for International Policy and Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was after beginning her career as a US diplomat and assisting in the organization of the State Department’s participation in the 2005 AGOA forum in Dakar, Senegal, as well as working on economic ties with South Africa. According to Gaither, the Africa Center has received praise from Chamber members over the last eight years for its creative and aggressive approach to assisting US firms in leveraging Africa’s commercial possibilities.
Key initiatives led by Kendra Gaither in Africa
When the chamber and its adversary and partner, the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), co-hosted the business roundtable on Day 2 of the three-day event at the US-Africa Leaders Summit last year, it was evident how cooperatively they operate. Though Gaither believes there is room for a variety of organizations to prosper while interacting with the 54 nations on the second-largest continent in the world, the CCA, which will reach 30 in 2023, is regarded as the leading US trade association dedicated to US-Africa economic connections. Since September 2022, when the Chamber’s Advance with Africa Initiative was introduced, multi-stakeholder engagement has really taken off. This multi-year roadshow campaign aims to increase the commercial profile of the continent in the US by focusing on cities with sizable African diasporas and minority business communities. The project held six events around the country in its first year of operation, including ones in Atlanta, Georgia, and Houston, Texas, the second-largest US urban trading partner in Africa.
Kendra Gaither’s African agenda
The Chamber intends to send a delegation of small firms to the continent for the first time in order to officially launch Advance with Africa the following year. “This opportunity will be more than just a business trip; it will be an experience,” the Chamber states, “allowing executives to meet potential partners and immersing American entrepreneurs in the energy and hope of Africa’s business landscape while also learning firsthand how to create conditions for business success in Africa.” Gaither says the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement, which was established this year, is a positive step in the Biden administration’s efforts to engage immigrants and Americans of African descent. He believes these efforts will help “break down some of those barriers and perceptions and really inject some dynamism and enthusiasm into the relationship.”
