AFRICA RISING
Your report "Africa Rising" was a welcome contribution to a better understanding of what's really happening on the continent [WORLD, March 30], but I missed seeing in-depth coverage of the overall economic situation there. Business is carried out in the name of free and fair competition, but that requires a balance of power, and there is no such balance. There is virtually no protection for Africans against the imported goods and surplus produce from Europe that are being dumped on the market. For many Africans, life is solely a matter of survival and freedom of speech has very little meaning. KJELL-ERIK NORDLIE Vallset, Norway
You stated that "life is finally looking up for many Africans," but those of us committed to the resettlement of refugees know that it is not getting better, unfortunately, for many others. Not all in Africa is a bed of roses. The thorns are still tearing away at millions of dispossessed people throughout the continent who have lost their homes. U.S. refugee policy closes the door on some of the most severely oppressed and displaced people in the world. The number of Africans admitted to the U.S. is absurdly low in relation to the need in Africa. RALSTON H. DEFFENBAUGH JR. Executive Director Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service New York City
You struck a good balance in your article between the political and economic progress many African nations have made and the considerable challenges remaining for the continent. While we don't want to have unrealistic expectations, prospects for an African Renaissance are brightening. As you reported, African countries are opening their economies, allowing individuals to prosper and achieve independence from development aid. It is encouraging that Eritrean President Issaias Afewerki and other new-era African leaders understand the need for Africans to shape their own destinies, creating self-sustaining countries. The bipartisan African Growth and Opportunity Act promises to further this progress by encouraging economic reforms and promoting mutually beneficial trade with the U.S. ED ROYCE, U.S. Representative 39th District, California Washington
Leave Africa alone! Let the Africans decide the scale of their economies, the most appropriate technologies to use and the level of industrialism that is desirable. Buy their products, yes. Offer favorable terms of trade, yes. But don't organize their economies for them by offering Western models of unlimited growth in a finite environment. Multinational corporations that do business in Africa should guarantee that most of the benefits go to Africans. MARK HACKLER Glenview, Ill.