Office of the Historian

224. Memorandum From the Under Secretary of State (Katzenbach) to President Johnson1

Washington, April 18, 1967.

SUBJECT

  • Status Report on Major Action Programs Stemming from the Korry Report on African Development Policies and Programs

On December 17, 1966, I sent you the Action Program to carry out the recommendations of the Korry Report on African Development Policies and Programs (enclosed).2 This is a status report on the major Action Programs to keep you informed of how we have implemented the Korry Report.

In the immediately underlying enclosures3 are status reports on 22 of the 42 Korry Report recommendations. Among the highlights of the [Page 367] actions taken since December, I wish to draw your particular attention to the following:

  • —The IBRD, the African Development Bank, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the UN Development Program have met to work out a plan for coordination of African economic development in transportation, telecommunications and power. We hope that their next step will be to involve major interested donor governments.
  • —IBRD and the International Telecommunications Union are beginning to cooperate on the plans for African regional telecommunications development.
  • —The National Academy of Sciences, with AID financing, is organizing an African Conference on Agricultural Research for Economic Development which is to take place in the Congo (Kinshasa) in September and to involve 150 African, European and American agricultural scientists and financial and economic development planners. This is a first stage toward improving African research for increased food production.
  • —AID is about to assist the heads of African universities to form working associations to promote and establish academic centers of excellence in Africa.
  • —AID is contracting with 14 US private financial institutions to seek out investment opportunities in Africa for their clients. Some of these institutions are already actively promoting 26 investment projects. They have shown some interest in another 36; and 106 more are under review.
  • —Four US commercial and investment banks have agreed to take the lead in establishing a private investment finance corporation for Africa. They are negotiating with AID on the terms and conditions; the principal delay relates to requirements for tying AID funds—which are to be loaned to this corporation—to US procurement.
  • —New AID policies for a substantial reduction in the number of African countries receiving bilateral assistance, coupled with increased emphasis on regional and multidonor projects, have been conveyed to Congress in your Foreign Assistance Message, as well as in the AID FY 1968 Presentation.
  • —We are working on proposals for a US contribution to the Special Fund of the African Development Bank, in line with your Foreign Assistance Message. Problems of the timing of submission to Congress, the amount and relative percentage of the US contribution, and tied procurement have yet to be resolved. In view of your decision to maintain the same level of AID assistance to Africa, in the coming fiscal year, the participation in the ADB Special Fund represents the only way of increasing US assistance to Africa.

In addition to the 22 major recommendations on which I am enclosing status reports, I can assure you that plans and programs are moving forward, consistent with the Action Program, on the other Korry Report [Page 368] recommendations. In effect, they have become integrated with the regular programs for Africa of State, AID and other agencies.

Nicholas deB Katzenbach 4
  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Africa, General, Vol. V, 6/66–1/69. Confidential.↩
  2. Document 222.↩
  3. Not printed.↩
  4. Printed from a copy that bears this stamped signature.↩