Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 97115 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ETRD EAGR ETTC EAID ECON EFIN ECIN EINV ELAB EAIR ENRG EPET EWWT ECPS EIND EMIN ELTN EC ETMIN EUC EZ ET ELECTIONS ENVR EU EUN EG EINT ER ECONOMICS ES EMS ENIV EEB EN ECE ECOSOC EK ENVIRONMENT EFIS EI EWT ENGRD ECPSN EXIM EIAD ERIN ECPC EDEV ENGY ECTRD EPA ESTH ECCT EINVECON ENGR ERTD EUR EAP EWWC ELTD EL EXIMOPIC EXTERNAL ETRDEC ESCAP ECO EGAD ELNT ECONOMIC ENV ETRN EIAR EUMEM ENRGPARMOTRASENVKGHGPGOVECONTSPLEAID EREL ECOM ECONETRDEAGRJA ETCC ETRG ECONOMY EMED ETR ENERG EITC EFINOECD EURM EENG ERA EXPORT ENRD ECONEINVETRDEFINELABETRDKTDBPGOVOPIC EGEN EBRD EVIN ETRAD ECOWAS EFTA ECONETRDBESPAR EGOVSY EPIN EID ECONENRG EDRC ESENV ETT EB ENER ELTNSNAR ECHEVARRIA ETRC EPIT EDUC ESA EFI ENRGY ESCI EE EAIDXMXAXBXFFR EETC ECIP EIAID EIVN EBEXP ESTN EING EGOV ETRA EPETEIND ELAN ETRDGK EAIDRW ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS EPEC ENVI ELN EAG EPCS EPRT EPTED ETRB EUM EAIDS EFIC EFINECONEAIDUNGAGM EAIDAR ESF EIDN ELAM EDU EV EAIDAF ECN EDA EXBS EINTECPS ENRGTRGYETRDBEXPBTIOSZ EPREL EAC EINVEFIN ETA EAGER EINDIR ECA ECLAC ELAP EITI EUCOM ECONEFINETRDPGOVEAGRPTERKTFNKCRMEAID EARG ELDIN EINVKSCA ENNP EFINECONCS EFINTS ECCP ETC EAIRASECCASCID EINN ETRP EAIDNI EFQ ECOQKPKO EGPHUM EBUD ECONEINVEFINPGOVIZ ENERGY ELB EINDETRD EMI ECONEFIN EIB EURN ETRDEINVTINTCS EIN EFIM ETIO ELAINE EMN EATO EWTR EIPR EINVETC ETTD ETDR EIQ ECONCS EPPD ENRGIZ EISL ESPINOSA ELEC EAIG ESLCO EUREM ENTG ERD EINVECONSENVCSJA EEPET EUNCH ECINECONCS ETRO ETRDECONWTOCS ECUN EFND EPECO EAIRECONRP ERGR ETRDPGOV ECPN ENRGMO EPWR EET EAIS EAGRE EDUARDO EAGRRP EAIDPHUMPRELUG EICN ECONQH EVN EGHG ELBR EINF EAIDHO EENV ETEX ERNG ED
KMDR KPAO KPKO KJUS KCRM KGHG KFRD KWMN KDEM KTFN KHIV KGIC KIDE KSCA KNNP KHUM KIPR KSUM KISL KIRF KCOR KRCM KPAL KWBG KN KS KOMC KSEP KFLU KPWR KTIA KSEO KMPI KHLS KICC KSTH KMCA KVPR KPRM KE KU KZ KFLO KSAF KTIP KTEX KBCT KOCI KOLY KOR KAWC KACT KUNR KTDB KSTC KLIG KSKN KNN KCFE KCIP KGHA KHDP KPOW KUNC KDRL KV KPREL KCRS KPOL KRVC KRIM KGIT KWIR KT KIRC KOMO KRFD KUWAIT KG KFIN KSCI KTFIN KFTN KGOV KPRV KSAC KGIV KCRIM KPIR KSOC KBIO KW KGLB KMWN KPO KFSC KSEAO KSTCPL KSI KPRP KREC KFPC KUNH KCSA KMRS KNDP KR KICCPUR KPPAO KCSY KTBT KCIS KNEP KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KNNB KGCC KINR KPOP KMFO KENV KNAR KVIR KDRG KDMR KFCE KNAO KDEN KGCN KICA KIMMITT KMCC KLFU KMSG KSEC KUM KCUL KMNP KSMT KCOM KOMCSG KSPR KPMI KRAD KIND KCRP KAUST KWAWC KTER KCHG KRDP KPAS KITA KTSC KPAOPREL KWGB KIRP KJUST KMIG KLAB KTFR KSEI KSTT KAPO KSTS KLSO KWNN KPOA KHSA KNPP KPAONZ KBTS KWWW KY KJRE KPAOKMDRKE KCRCM KSCS KWMNCI KESO KWUN KPLS KIIP KEDEM KPAOY KRIF KGICKS KREF KTRD KFRDSOCIRO KTAO KJU KWMNPHUMPRELKPAOZW KEN KO KNEI KEMR KKIV KEAI KWAC KRCIM KWCI KFIU KWIC KCORR KOMS KNNO KPAI KBWG KTTB KTBD KTIALG KILS KFEM KTDM KESS KNUC KPA KOMCCO KCEM KRCS KWBGSY KNPPIS KNNPMNUC KWN KERG KLTN KALM KCCP KSUMPHUM KREL KGH KLIP KTLA KAWK KWMM KVRP KVRC KAID KSLG KDEMK KX KIF KNPR KCFC KFTFN KTFM KPDD KCERS KMOC KDEMAF KMEPI KEMS KDRM KEPREL KBTR KEDU KNP KIRL KNNR KMPT KISLPINR KTPN KA KJUSTH KPIN KDEV KTDD KAKA KFRP KWNM KTSD KINL KJUSKUNR KWWMN KECF KWBC KPRO KVBL KOM KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KEDM KFLD KLPM KRGY KNNF KICR KIFR KM KWMNCS KAWS KLAP KPAK KDDG KCGC KID KNSD KMPF KPFO KDP KCMR KRMS KNPT KNNNP KTIAPARM KDTB KNUP KPGOV KNAP KNNC KUK KSRE KREISLER KIVP KQ KTIAEUN KPALAOIS KRM KISLAO KWM KFLOA
PHUM PINR PTER PGOV PREL PREF PL PM PHSA PE PARM PINS PK PUNE PO PALESTINIAN PU PBTS PROP PTBS POL POLI PA PGOVZI POLMIL POLITICAL PARTIES POLM PD POLITICS POLICY PAS PMIL PINT PNAT PV PKO PPOL PERSONS PING PBIO PH PETR PARMS PRES PCON PETERS PRELBR PT PLAB PP PAK PDEM PKPA PSOCI PF PLO PTERM PJUS PSOE PELOSI PROPERTY PGOVPREL PARP PRL PNIR PHUMKPAL PG PREZ PGIC PBOV PAO PKK PROV PHSAK PHUMPREL PROTECTION PGOVBL PSI PRELPK PGOVENRG PUM PRELKPKO PATTY PSOC PRIVATIZATION PRELSP PGOVEAIDUKNOSWGMHUCANLLHFRSPITNZ PMIG PREC PAIGH PROG PSHA PARK PETER POG PHUS PPREL PS PTERPREL PRELPGOV POV PKPO PGOVECON POUS PGOVPRELPHUMPREFSMIGELABEAIDKCRMKWMN PWBG PMAR PREM PAR PNR PRELPGOVEAIDECONEINVBEXPSCULOIIPBTIO PARMIR PGOVGM PHUH PARTM PN PRE PTE PY POLUN PPEL PDOV PGOVSOCI PIRF PGOVPM PBST PRELEVU PGOR PBTSRU PRM PRELKPAOIZ PGVO PERL PGOC PAGR PMIN PHUMR PVIP PPD PGV PRAM PINL PKPAL PTERE PGOF PINO PHAS PODC PRHUM PHUMA PREO PPA PEPFAR PGO PRGOV PAC PRESL PORG PKFK PEPR PRELP PREFA PNG PGOVPHUMKPAO PRELECON PINOCHET PFOR PGOVLO PHUMBA PRELC PREK PHUME PHJM POLINT PGOVPZ PGOVKCRM PGOVE PHALANAGE PARTY PECON PEACE PROCESS PLN PRELSW PAHO PEDRO PRELA PASS PPAO PGPV PNUM PCUL PGGV PSA PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA PGIV PRFE POGOV PEL PBT PAMQ PINF PSEPC POSTS PHUMPGOV PVOV PHSAPREL PROLIFERATION PENA PRELTBIOBA PIN PRELL PGOVPTER PHAM PHYTRP PTEL PTERPGOV PHARM PROTESTS PRELAF PKBL PRELKPAO PKNP PARMP PHUML PFOV PERM PUOS PRELGOV PHUMPTER PARAGRAPH PERURENA PBTSEWWT PCI PETROL PINSO PINSCE PQL PEREZ PBS

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 03LAGOS685, PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES: AFRICAN MINISTERS

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #03LAGOS685.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
03LAGOS685 2003-04-02 06:49 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Lagos
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000685 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR SZABAT AND SAMPLE 
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK FOR GRANDMAISON AND SCURRY 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL EAIR NI EINV ELNT
SUBJECT: PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES: AFRICAN MINISTERS 
DISCUSS INTEGRATED TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS 
 
1.  Summary: The first annual African Ministerial Forum on 
Integrated Transportation (AMFIT) met in Abuja March 9 - 13. 
Ministers called for better policy coordination and private 
sector participation to help integrate African countries with 
the rest of the world.  Ambassador Jeter, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of Transportation Joel Szabat, and EXIM Bank 
 
SIPDIS 
Director Joseph Grandmaison highlighted the ways USG 
assistance is helping develop safe, secure, and efficient 
transport links in Africa.  Among other things, the ministers 
expressed support for a U.S. Aviation and Maritime Security 
Initiative to reduce the susceptibility of transport systems 
to terrorist attacks.  End Summary. 
 
 
2.  Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Abdoulaye 
Wade of Senegal 
(whom Senegal's NEPAD Coordinator represented) hosted AMFIT 
2003 as an African follow-up to the International Symposium 
on Transport that USDOT had organized in October 2000. 
About twenty African ministers and hundreds of other 
representatives from Africa participated in AMFIT 2003 in 
Abuja on March 9 - 13.  Since its theme revolved around the 
impediments to the development of a continent-wide transport 
infrastructure, AMFIT's communique reflects a blueprint, 
however inadequate it may be, of what an integrated Africa 
transportation system might resemble. 
 
 
3. Opening the conference, Obasanjo called on the delegates 
to create an integrated Africa-wide transportation plan to 
strengthen regional and international trade ties within the 
NEPAD framework.  Ambassador Jeter, in a welcome address at 
the opening plenary session, echoed that the development of 
safe, reliable, and efficient transport links can be a means 
to foster economic development.  He said the USG donation of 
multi-million dollar state-of-the-art aviation security 
screening equipment and EXIM financing of transportation 
projects is supporting these objectives. 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
DOT Helping Develop Safe, Secure, and Efficient Transportation 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
 
4.  Joel Szabat, Deputy Assistance Secretary for 
Transportation also expressed support for AMFIT's goals and 
gave examples of DOT's efforts to help governments develop 
safe, secure, and efficient transport systems.  Szabat said 
the Open Skies program has improved aviation safety and 
strengthened US-Africa air links. The USG's approval of World 
Airways' beginning charter service between the United States 
and Nigeria, once authorized by the GON, will be a positive 
outcome of such cooperation, he said.  He went on that USDOT 
has helped to strengthen the Aviation and Transportation 
Ministries' institutional oversight and security training for 
personnel in the last year. 
 
 
5.  During the conference, Szabat met separately with 
Nigerian Minister of Transport Ojo Maduekwe to discuss ongoing 
cooperation.  Szabat gave Maduekwe a copy of an environmental 
assessment of the Lagos Port Complex and said the USG hopes to help 
implement some of the report's recommendations.  Maduekwe 
expressed appreciation for USDOT's support and said he looks 
forward to cooperation. The biggest challenge facing the 
Ministry, he said, is its weak institutional capacity to 
regulate the operators and its weak grasp of the technical 
aspects of policy formulation. Szabat responded that USDOT 
can put together a program in Washington to help the Ministry 
develop an effective and independent regulatory body to 
address urban congestion. 
 
 
6.  In various workshops, USDOT aviation and ground 
transportation experts engaged African delegates on the 
importance of developing sound transportation policy.  The 
discussions focused on the need for better planning and a 
regulatory framework in which private operators might provide 
safe and efficient service to end-users.   Delegates also 
stressed the need for better coordination between countries. 
 
 
7.  USDOT succeeded in its attempt to encourage inclusion of 
an African Aviation and Maritime Security Initiative 
statement in the final communique.  Transportation ministers 
agreed to adopt and implement new International Civil 
Aviation Organization and International Maritime Association 
standards strengthening security at airports and seaports. 
The ministers said the African Union supports G-8 and APEC 
measures to tighten aviation and cargo handling procedures to 
guard against terrorism. 
 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
ExIm Finance for Infrastructure Improvements 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
 
8. EXIM Bank Director Grandmaison described the Bank's 
efforts to provide financing for infrastructure projects 
including US-Africa air cargo links.  Grandmaison announced 
the Bank's approval of a $5 million loan to Overland Airways 
for the purchase of two Beech aircraft, and added he hopes 
AMFIT will generate more opportunities for the Bank in the 
multi-modal transport sector.   He challenged ministers to 
think of transportation as a concept that represents more 
than mere physical movement, adding that the concept can 
embrace sound regulatory and customs policies that encourage 
the exchange of goods.  (An example of gross inefficiency is 
the practice by Nigeria's Customs Service to inspect all 
imported goods.  Clearing goods through customs consequently 
takes 25 days on average.)   Grandmaison added that Nigerians 
should use the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) as a 
catalyst to develop the country's infrastructure.  Better air 
cargo links between Nigeria and the United States might 
enhance the competitiveness of some Nigerian goods that could 
qualify for export under AGOA. 
 
 
9.  AMFIT participants identified barriers to financing and 
possible solutions.  Many government delegates complained 
about the difficulty of accessing funds for infrastructure 
projects as a result of political instability that makes many 
countries unattractive to foreign investors.  Private sector 
representatives promoted the use of build, operate and 
transfer agreements by countries that lack the capacity and 
capital for large projects.  (Comment. Since the public 
sector dominates Nigeria's economy, public-private sector 
partnerships have yet to become popular.  The government 
finds relinquishing control over public enterprises 
difficult, even though it lacks the institutional or 
financial ability to implement projects.  Control over public 
enterprises often translates into easy access to resources 
for personal gain.  End comment.) 
 
 
---------------------- 
Lessons and Next Steps 
---------------------- 
 
 
10. Africa's transportation systems obviously need drastic 
upgrade. Nigeria's Transport Minister Maduekwe described the 
crrent state of Africa's infrastructure as a 
"study in chaos" characterized by the poor quality of its 
aviation, road, rail, and maritime links.  Dr. Lisa Fox of 
Harvard University tried putting a price tag on the 
consequences of such poor transport links.  She said the cost 
of transporting goods in Africa accounts for 40 percent of 
the retail value of such goods, twice the international 
average. In the absence of an upgrade, African countries may 
still find it difficult to compete internationally, even 
under preferential trade schemes like AGOA. 
 
 
11. AMFIT's final communique stressed the importance of 
involving the private sector in infrastructure development if 
desperately needed capital and knowledge are to be mobilized. 
 The ministers called for the institutionalization of AMFIT 
within the NEPAD structure in order to follow through on 
AMFIT's recommendations. 
 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
 
12.  While the participants succeeded in identifying possible 
solutions to Africa's transport woes, how their governments 
will implement the recommendations, if all, will constitute 
the true test of their success.  The government delegates 
voiced support for all the right measures: better policy, 
regional cooperation, and private sector involvement.  The 
question remains whether NEPAD will ever become something 
more than just a vision on paper. Regardless of its long-term 
effect, AMFIT provided USG officials an excellent opportunity 
to showcase U.S. support for Africa's multi-modal transport 
infrastructure. 
 
 
HINSON-JONES