History
The bridge from America to Africa has been built in large part because of the outstanding vision of the late Reverend Leon H. Sullivan. Reverend Sullivan organized the first Summit as a result of a number of requests and conversations he had with African leaders seeking an honest dialog among and between leaders of African countries and government officials and leaders from developed countries. After nearly thirty years of creating job training programs, rural development programs, and entrepreneurial development programs in the United States, Europe, Africa, and Latin America, Leon Sullivan directed his energies toward Africa and launched the Summit movement in May of 1991.
Summit I successfully accomplished its stated objective, which was to provide a venue for such a dialog. The Summit conducts the dialogue from the Continent to ensure that the tone, the tenor, and the results are African driven. Convened in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in 1991, the Summit had an auspicious beginning. More than 1500 people attended this first Summit, which focused attention on Sub-Saharan Africa debt. As a result of this meeting, more than $60 million in African debt has been retired.
Subsequent Summits continued to focus attention on African development and the need for international partners. Hosted by Gabon, Summit II in 1993 focused on practical ways to assist in the improvement of the quality of life in Africa. The Teachers for Africa program is one of the main efforts stemming from the second Summit.
In 1995, organizers held the third in Dakar, Senegal. Summit III hailed the presence of the first official American presidential delegation, which was headed by the then Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown. The Schools for Africa Program and the “SOS: Help the Children of Africa” Campaign are both initiatives coming out of the third Summit. The Schools for Africa Program is building much needed schools in areas of Africa where no schools exist. The goal is to build 1,000 schools, while the SOS Campaign gathers school supplies such as books, pens, pencils and other school materials and ships them to Africa.
In 1997, the Summit incorporated a Trade & Investment Exposition at its fourth meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe. The Exposition has been an important and effective platform for the increase in private sector investments in Africa, as well as the increase in trade linkages between the United States and Africa. Over one hundred exhibitors presented their products and services to the four thousand delegates and observers.
Summit V took place in Accra, Ghana. It attracted nearly 5,000 participants and over 2,000 observers, including Heads of State and official delegations from more than 40 African nations, prominent African Americans, government officials, executives and professionals from all around the world. In addition to launching several new programmatic issues, the Summit participants gave particular attention to the issue of HIV/AIDS. Participants recognized the devastating economic impact and human toll that was being taken by this disease. The Summit is presently involved in discussions to launch a major HIV/AIDS education and containment program that will benefit millions of children over the next five years. The announcement of this initiative took place at the Sullivan Summit VI in July 2003. It was also at this last Summit that Reverend Sullivan announced the Global Sullivan Principles. The Global Sullivan Principles are an update of the apartheid-busting principles that were applied to South Africa and were devised to ensure fair hiring and business practices by international corporations throughout the world.
Summit VI in Abuja, Nigeria, attracted unprecedented high-level political attention and the largest sum donations since the Summit movement began. Summit VI was attended by President George W. Bush (the first presidential visit), Secretary of State Colin Powell, and National Security Adviser Dr. Condoleezza Rice. President Bush pledged $5 million for the Sullivan entity IFESH’s Teachers for Africa Program. The Board of Directors of Chevron pledged $5 million dollars toward the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation’s Endowment. The Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, Sullivan entity OIC International and Habitat for Humanity International signed an agreement to develop a pilot project to build 100 new housing units in Nigeria. The Foundation, with partners, reached two agreements: 1) to ship1,000,000 books to Africa, and 2) to replicate open- heart surgery and other surgical procedures throughout Africa. The Foundation and NAFEO, the umbrella organization of America’s historically black colleges and universities, agree in principle to continue to bring together universities from America and Africa in a range of Summit and post-Summit collaborative activities.
Summit organizers have gained significant knowledge and experience from the past five Summits. Through the Summit, African heads of state, and other Summit participants have sought to build relationships with American and other business stakeholders in Africa. With its vast experience informing the shape of deliberations and events, the next Summit is now poised to achieve an even greater impact than before. Not only are the conditions ripe in Africa for the Summit discussions, but also the work of the past fifteen years will be brought to bear in creating an experience and event that will uphold Reverend Sullivan’s legacy. Each Summit has led to the birth and development of public and private initiatives that continue to this day. Since the first Summit in 1991, over $750 million in new business agreements have been initiated as a direct result of the Summit movement.