During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last week, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) spoke about how the United States can counter China's influence in Africa.
00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for your service and for your testimony here today.
00:08And I want to thank the chairman and ranking member for holding this hearing on this topic.
00:14So I was listening to your testimony, and I think you made a number of important observations,
00:20and I'm not sure the plan of action that you laid out, the six points, addresses the problem completely.
00:27You pointed out in your testimony that China can act swiftly and they're risk-tolerant.
00:34You also pointed out, rightly, that they don't have to worry about meeting their stockholders' requirements, right?
00:42I mean, these are fundamental differences between the way China approaches Africa and the United States does, right?
00:49And so it seems to me, if we're going to be able to compete, we have to use these tools.
00:58Senator Coons was very involved in the DFC effort.
01:03Senator Booker just raised concerns that I share about the plans, as I understand it, to get rid of the MCC.
01:09But I guess the point is you can't beat the China offer, which often comes in as a debt trap,
01:19but it comes in appearing to be less costly without something better, right?
01:26I mean, you can't beat nothing.
01:28You can't beat something with nothing.
01:30And that is why these tools are so important.
01:32And so maybe you could lay out a little bit, exactly in your six points, how you envision beefing up those tools.
01:39And I do want to close by saying this is not an either-or proposition, in my view, like the development assistance.
01:45My view, and I echo Senator Booker's concerns expressed, you know, we can pursue active private commercial engagements,
01:53which we should, and frankly, every administration, Republican or Democrat,
01:57for the last 15 years have said that that's their goal, and to do it on an equal basis.
02:05But you don't have to cut, you know, humanitarian assistance to Sudan in order to, at the same time, pursue commercial interests.
02:13And I think that that's been devastating, frankly, to our own interests, as well as the interests of people in Africa.
02:20But maybe you could just take up this issue about how we can deal with a competitor that doesn't have to demonstrate an immediate return to their shareholders.
02:34Because that's the fundamental question here.
02:37You talk about getting more, you know, commercial attaches and others, and I'm all for that.
02:42But at the end of the day, an American company is not going to go in there unless they think they're going to be able to deliver for their shareholders.
02:49And it's hard to see how they can without some support with using these other tools.
02:54So could you elaborate on that?
02:57Thank you very much, Senator.
03:00Probably in reverse order.
03:01You mentioned Sudan last night.
03:03We spend an extraordinary amount of time trying to resolve the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
03:09I spent a good bit of time on that yesterday.
03:11We're looking to have a fairly high-level meeting on that in the coming weeks.
03:15We have not stopped doing those things because we're making commercial diplomacy a priority.
03:21And at the risk of sounding like a one-note orchestra, the reason why we've been making such a big deal about the commercial diplomacy is because that's the thing we're doing that's dramatically different from before.
03:31That's the thing that's being promoted and advanced in our strategy that is different, and that's why we're doing that.
03:41Of the two, it's probably two items of the six directly address your question.
03:48The one is about the reform of our tools.
03:50I'm a huge fan of DFC, and I'm thrilled that the nominee is here in the building and hope will be confirmed fairly soon.
04:01But even DFC understands that the way it was built, the way it was designed, and the way it needs to go forward may be different.
04:07It's about being faster, more nimble, instead of just being the only investor, about being the leader of a blended finance.
04:16These types of reforms will make it a better entity.
04:21But it's an entity on which, frankly, our entire strategy relies.
04:24We need that kind of finance, that kind of aggression, and that kind of optimism.
04:29Some of it is also, if you look at the Ex-Im Bank, I believe they have a 2% failure cap, and they don't reach it.
04:39I think they're at about 1.2%.
04:41Personally, I would like to double that cap to 4% and ensure that they reach it.
04:46I want them being aggressive.
04:48I want them, frankly, having some loans that don't work.
04:52It's not just a matter of the number of successful projects that you have,
04:56because if that's all you're focused on, then you're behaving just like a normal bank.
05:01And we have plenty of normal banks.
05:03We need these investment arms to do the things to lead so that the private sector can then engage afterwards, to attract.
05:11And that's where we see that kind of thing.
05:12You know, you're preaching to the choir on the Ex-Im Bank issue and some of these other issues.
05:17I will just say in closing, since you elaborated on Sudan,
05:20and, you know, as I said, we can pursue commercial engagement and humanitarian assistance.
05:28I think you're aware of the fact that the dramatic cuts to AID did result in people dying in Sudan unnecessarily when food couldn't get to them.
05:36I would also just point out, with respect to the, you mentioned your efforts, with respect to the UAE and the conflict there.
05:44The UAE, as you well know, is continuing to support the RSF, Rapid Support Forces, militarily,
05:53unless you have an update on that that suggests otherwise.
05:58And yet, during President Trump's recent trip to the UAE, it's my understanding he never even raised that issue.
06:04Is that your understanding?
06:07Thank you for that.
06:08I would suggest we have support from the highest levels to engage all of the interested parties in that region
06:15with finding a way to move off of entrenched positions towards a productive way forward.
06:23It is the worst humanitarian situation in the world.
06:27I would suggest, however, that those feeding programs, I've spent a lot of, like,
06:31round-the-clock, all-night-long kinds of issues going through thousands of line items of support issues,
06:39that we have maintained those programs.
06:41And I would say that people are surviving in Sudan because of the support that the United States has provided there.
06:49I'd be happy, I don't want to prolong this, but I'd be happy to send you all the articles about the cost
06:54as a result of the withdrawal of U.S. assistance to Sudan at some point.
