From the office of                                                Contact: TaKeysha Sheppard        

Representative Vernon Sykes                          (614) 466-3100

 

 


Ohio Legislative Black Caucus to Lead Trade Mission to South Africa

 

 

The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus (OLBC) will lead a delegation of legislators, educators, city officials, community leaders, business owners, and corporate representatives on a trade mission to South Africa.   Mission delegates will depart for South Africa on Sunday, August 20th and will return on Tuesday, August 29th.

 

Senator C.J Prentiss and State Representatives Vernon Sykes (D-Akron), John Barnes (D-Cleveland), Catherine Barrett (D-Cincinnati), and Shirley Smith (D-Cleveland) will participate in the mission on behalf of OLBC.  

 

The purpose of the legislative-led trade mission is to promote economic, academic, and governmental exchanges that will enhance the organizational objectives of Ohio and South Africa.  The mission will also include a donation of books and other educational supplies to three schools and the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

 

In 1998, the International Trade Division of the Ohio Department of Development opened the Ohio Southern Africa Trade Office (OSATO) in Johannesburg, South Africa. Under the direction of its Managing Director, M. Louis Kasuyi, the office is responsible for assisting Ohio businesses in exporting their products or services into the Sub-Saharan African region.   

 

The OLBC will use this Trade Mission to promote OSATO as well as enhance economic cooperation between South Africa and the State of Ohio, specifically in industries in which Ohio has a competitive edge among other US states.  The Ohio Department of Development identifies these industries to include automotive, manufacture and machinery, iron and casting, plastic and rubber, chemicals, telecommunications, water treatment, construction, and housing.  Of the 200 countries that Ohio companies export to, South Africa is Ohio's 21st largest export market.

 

"This governmental journey to South Africa began in 1995 when members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus worked to secure funding in Ohio's budget to open a trade office in Africa," said Vernon Sykes, OLBC's South Africa trade mission leader and sponsor of the budget amendment that created the trade office in South Africa. "We wanted to ensure that as Ohio pushed forward in the global economy in a substantial manner that our companies would have state support to enter the emerging South African market."  South Africa is the leading African country from which to promote continent-wide trade and cooperation, as well as an important economic partner in its own right.

 

Through the mission, OLBC will facilitate a relationship between ZBF Holding, Inc., an Akron-based company, and OSATO.  ZBF will send two partners on the trip, Robert Browne, President, and Robert Fort, Vice President, to spearhead a national housing initiative for South Africa.  In combating the housing crisis, ZBF will work in association with SALDO - South African Land and Housing Organization and Royal Building System - one of the leading companies in the manufacture of specialized low cost housing in the world.  Together they will leverage their respective resources and comparative advantages in the manufacture, training, construction, and development of housing by South Africans for South Africans.

 

Marco Sommerville, Akron City Council President, and Warren Woolford, Director of the Department of Planning and Urban Development for the City of Akron, will travel with the delegation on behalf of the city to explore economic development opportunities.  Following their visit to South Africa, they will travel to Ghana to establish a "sister-city" relationship with Cape Coast, a town in the center of the seaboard of Ghana.

 

Nancy Jones, Ambassador of Cultural Outreach for Honda and John Barnes Sr., President of Ohio Erie Properties of Cleveland Heights will also participate in the mission to learn more about the South African market.

 

"The key to the success of the mission will be for OLBC to prove that government can work in partnership with the private sector to develop an economic base for its people.   Ohio has made significant progress in establishing linkages with South Africa through the opening of OSATO," said Representative Sykes. "During our meetings, we will point out that the office will continue to play a vital role in sustaining the foundation being laid and keeping the lines of communication open for a long-term relationship."

 

Mission delegates will explore meaningful partnerships and associations with Ohio and South African governments and institutions of higher learning. Two scholars from the Department of Political Science at the University of Akron will participate in the mission by engaging in academic exchange and exploring educational linkages with the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. They will also contribute to facilitating understanding of the political and socio-economic contexts of both South Africa and Ohio to the Mission delegates and the South African delegates with whom they meet.

 

OLBC has worked closely with the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron in the organization of the mission.  The Institute was established in 1986 to promote the involvement of all citizens in public life. It works to empower citizens by increasing their understanding of the political process and by providing professional training in the "nuts and bolts" of practical politics.  Dr. Rick Farmer will represent the Institute on the mission.

 

In partnership with Half Price Bookstores, Barnes and Noble Booksellers, Highlights for Children Magazine, the American Plastics Council, and the GEON Company, OLBC will donate over 2100 books and other educational supplies to one primary school and two secondary schools during the mission.  Faculty at the University of Akron and members of the Northeast Ohio Political Science Network have also donated academic books for the University of the Witwatersrand, and meetings with the University will look to long-term book sharing and donation arrangements.

 

"I am highly pleased that we will make a contribution to the lives of children as part of the mission.  One of my life-long commitments is to education and literacy," said Senator Prentiss (D-Cleveland), OLBC President.  "Not only is education important in itself for the betterment of all individuals, but educated citizens are the foundation of democracy."

 

The mission is primarily funded through private donations, and will include stops in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria.  Individuals with whom mission delegates will meet include Delano Louis, US Ambassador to South Africa; Dr. Frene Ginwala, Speaker of the South African Parliament; N. Joyce Ngele, Mayor of Pretoria; and the MECs (Members of Executive Councils) of Education, Housing, and Finance.  The delegation will also meet with Saki Macozoma, Managing Director of the Transnet, the national transport company; Ahmed Kathrada, Chairperson of the Robben Island Museum Council and former advisor to President Mandela; Dr. Rob Davies, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry; and Professor Adelani Ogunrinade, deputy vice chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand. 

 

The mission will also visit and pay tribute to sites symbolic in the anti-apartheid struggle, such as Robben Island, prison home of former president Nelson Mandela, among others.   Delegates have additionally been honored with an invitation to hear President Mandela and Justice Richard Goldstone, former Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, address the Independent Commission on Kosovo Conference, at the University of the Witwatersrand.

 

 

 

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