For three days, from June 4 to June 6, faith communities from the United States and Africa met in Washington to discuss international debt and development aid and trade relations with Africa. The conference, organized by the Stony Point Conference Center and the Washington Office on Africa, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., sought to deepen "the understanding of economic justice and to apply that understanding to African realities as well as to current American economic policy toward Africa."

According to the World Bank, 33 of the 41 "heavily indebted poor countries" are in Africa. "Debt is the single most immediate handicap which keeps Africa entangled in a vicious circle of poverty, disease, and ignorance," said the Reverend Fidon Mwombeki from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania. Poor countries that owe money to rich countries and to international financial institutions are forced to cut programs designed to benefit their own poorest citizens. Because of the demands of structural adjustment, countries like Zambia are forced to cut health-care benefits and education. As a result, some of the leading causes of death in Zambia are malnutrition, malaria, and HIV/AIDS.

The Jubilee 2000 campaign, which calls for the forgiveness of poor countries' debts by the year 2000, reports that in 1998 Africa owed its creditors $ 227 billion. Every African child inherits, at birth, a debt of $379, which is more money than most Africans earn in a year. Even if Africans worked themselves to death, they would go to their graves "still owing," said the Rev. Mwombeki.

In his speech to participants at the Washington conference, Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town, South Africa, echoed the Jubilee 2000 campaign's call for the forgiveness of debt. He said that the notion of canceling debt is "consistent with the biblical vision of Jubilee . . . spelled out in Leviticus 25:8, and its underlying theme is to bring about a just order in society." Other participants joined ranks with the archbishop, arguing that the debt owed by many third-world countries was improperly acquired. During the Cold War era, Western governments lent money to corrupt military dictators like Mobutu Sese Seko of the former Zaire [now the Democratic Republic of Congo] to suppress his own people.

The concept of debt cancellation is not new. It happened to Germany after World Ware II, and to Poland and Egypt in 1991. "All of these cancellations occurred without doing damage to the United States or the global economy," reports the Jubilee 2000 campaign.

According to the Rev. Mwombeki, debt forgiveness is the first step toward economic justice in Africa, but the continent also needs a great deal of money invested in both human and ecological resources. Africa has a wealth of natural resources, but lacks the technological know- how and the financial means to develop them.

More than two-thirds of the world's cases of HIV/AIDS are in Africa. Economic hardship causes many families to break up. In some African countries, for example, a man may get up in the morning, tell his family he is going out to look for work, and never return, leaving his spouse with, perhaps, as many as ten children. Many times the wife is illiterate, has no job skills, and ultimately resorts to prostitution to feed her family.

Among the world's richest nations the United States provides the least economic aid to poor countries. "We need responsible stewardship, linked with equitable sharing of God-given gifts and resources, for the general well-being of all," said Archbishop Ndungane.

Participants at the Washington conference also called for fair-trade practices between the United States and Africa. Critics complained that multinationals, in their search for large profits, exploit human and environmental resources. Some corporations fuel armed conflicts in Africa by signing mining contracts with non-state actors like Jonas Savimbi, the leader of UNITA, a rebel movement seeking to overthrow the government of Angola.

According to a document for discussion by conference participants, the concept of globalization, calling for integration of the global market, should be challenged because it does not take into account the notion of human suffering, but relies mostly on the free market as a way of managing trade. Conferees argued that the free market relies too much on competition and favors multinational companies over small African businesses. Globalization as we know it, explained Archbishop Ndungane, is "economic exploitation not creative and supportive sharing of resources, and responsible stewardship of natural resources."

The United States needs to develop a new policy toward Africa that is mutually beneficial to both American and African interests. According to Sheila Sisulu, South Africa's ambassador to the United States, the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act is a classic example of how the United States puts into place economic policies that affect Africa without consulting Africans. She and other participants called for future U.S. consultation with African grassroots organizations and governments. Unless and until the United States does that, the U.S.-Africa economic relationship will continue to be viewed with suspicion.

In addition to consulting with Africans, conference participants also called for an economic relationship that does not exploit the environment and that addresses disparities between the wealthy and the poor. Once the United States implements such policy changes, there could be a beginning of economic justice toward Africa.