Kenya could lose its export quota under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) if it does not have a fully-developed cotton industry by the end of September next year. (This is assuming that proposed amendments to AGOA contained in the AGOA III bill currently before congress do not materialise. AGOA.info ed)

Mr Finn Holm-Olsen, the Agoa Business Linkages Adviser for East Africa Trade Hub, told a weekend Inter-Region Economic Network workshop in Mombasa that countries wishing to export clothes to the US must have developed their own raw materials by next year or lose the market.

"We are doing this because, we want Africans to benefit. We do not want African countries classified as least-developed to continue importing raw materials from countries like China," he said.

Mr Olsen, however, said there were fears that Kenya would not have developed its own raw materials and that was why it had asked for an extension of the September 30 next year's deadline.

"Already, leaders are asking for an extension so that the cotton sector can be developed locally, we are not sure that even if the extension is granted, the sector will be developed," he said.

He said industries set up for the purpose of the Agoa market in Kenya alone employed more than 30,000 workers while an additional 150,000 people have been employed in industries not indirectly involved in the Agoa market.

Participants were told that Kenya must develop free trade between its communities before fighting trade barriers in the World Trade Organisation.

The executive director of the network, Mr James Shikwati, said while the country was exploring foreign markets for its agricultural produce, it must strive to expand its local market.

"We must stop this tendency where even communities in Kenya face barriers of trade. For example, there could be surplus maize in western Kenya while communities in Turkana are starving. This must be addressed," he said.

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