Bush's audacious Millennium Challenge Account initiative is a perfect example of the importance this administration gives to Africa. If fully funded, MCA could be the seed corn of a 21st century Marshall Plan, not only for Africa, but for Central Asia and the Middle East, as well. The cornerstone of MCA is that development is most effective when recipient countries embrace reforms and expand individual freedom.

However, no matter how much money we provide in aid, prosperity must come from sound policies and the expansion of business and trade. President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal put it best when he said, "I've never seen a country develop itself through aid or credit." This is why I am a staunch supporter of trade and why I am proud to serve as the co-chair of AGOA III, the third round of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, along with Rosa Whittaker, former assistant U.S. trade representative for Africa, and Carl Ware of Coca-Cola.

U.S. imports from Africa have increased 10 percent under AGOA, and last August Bush signed into law "AGOA II" enhancements to further liberalize U.S.-African trade, but there is more we can do to facilitate trade. As President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, President John Kufuor of Ghana and President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria have made eminently clear on numerous occasions, ultimately it is trade not aid that is critical. I have also heard President Hamid Karzai and Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan say the very same thing.

It has been estimated that E.U. Common Agricultural Policy and U.S. agriculture subsidies decrease African agriculture exports by as much as 65 percent. To remedy this perverse situation where the wealthiest regions of the world block imports from the poorest, I have suggested that the European Union and the United States should allow all products from Africa to enter the United States and the Euro-zone duty-free and quota-free. U.S. businesses investing in Africa should also be allowed to repatriate their profits tax-free for a five- or 10-year period as a means of kick-starting capital investment in Africa.

It is my hope that the United States will help the process of political and economic reform by creating a Marshall Plan for the 21st century to extend the president's vision throughout Africa because of our shared belief in the values of liberty and dignity. In the 21st century, America must not be seen as an occupying force or as a country engaged in imperial conquest. Instead we should build on the successes of post-World War II policies in Germany and Japan to extend the promise of peace, economic growth and liberal democracy worldwide.