Witney Schneidman is a nonresident senior fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings. He has over four decades of experience working on African economic and political issues. He has served in the US Department of State twice, as deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs and as the South Africa analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the time of South Africa’s democratic transition. While deputy assistant secretary, Schneidman was actively involved in the passage and implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act.