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Bush in Africa

Aired July 11, 2003 - 13:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the battle against AIDS. Uganda gets praise from President Bush for its containment of the pandemic. The president got an enthusiastic reception today in Uganda, stop number four on his African tour. Nigeria is the final stop. And that's where we find our bureau chief there, Jeff Koinange.
Jeff, hello.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Miles.

That's right, Air Force One touches down in Africa's most populous nation in about an hour's time, and Nigerians here are saying President Bush is saving the best for last, although if you talk to experts on the ground, they'll tell you he's saving the most challenging for last.

Picture this, Miles. One out of every six Africans is a Nigerian. The population here, over 120 million people, is nearly half that of the entire United States and in a country the size of France. Now, it is the sixth largest producer of crude oil in the world and the eighth largest exporter -- over 2 million barrels of oil every single day. But it's that over-reliance on one commodity for most of its foreign exchange earnings that's put the economy here in a tailspin. Nigerians will be looking to the U.S. for help to diversify that economy. They want to go into everything from agricultural to textiles, and encourage investors and tourism as well. They're going to be looking to the U.S. to that -- Miles.

BLITZER: CNN's Jeff Koinange, reporting to us from Nigeria, the last stop on the president's trip.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired July 11, 2003 - 13:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the battle against AIDS. Uganda gets praise from President Bush for its containment of the pandemic. The president got an enthusiastic reception today in Uganda, stop number four on his African tour. Nigeria is the final stop. And that's where we find our bureau chief there, Jeff Koinange.
Jeff, hello.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Miles.

That's right, Air Force One touches down in Africa's most populous nation in about an hour's time, and Nigerians here are saying President Bush is saving the best for last, although if you talk to experts on the ground, they'll tell you he's saving the most challenging for last.

Picture this, Miles. One out of every six Africans is a Nigerian. The population here, over 120 million people, is nearly half that of the entire United States and in a country the size of France. Now, it is the sixth largest producer of crude oil in the world and the eighth largest exporter -- over 2 million barrels of oil every single day. But it's that over-reliance on one commodity for most of its foreign exchange earnings that's put the economy here in a tailspin. Nigerians will be looking to the U.S. for help to diversify that economy. They want to go into everything from agricultural to textiles, and encourage investors and tourism as well. They're going to be looking to the U.S. to that -- Miles.

BLITZER: CNN's Jeff Koinange, reporting to us from Nigeria, the last stop on the president's trip.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com