A Cameroonian Business Delegation leaves the country today to join their counterparts from Ghana, Benin, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal for a two-week trade mission and training programme in Washington DC from June 12 to 20, 2004.

The Trade Mission has been organised by the Graduate School of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in partnership with the AGOA Training Center-Africa (ATCA) and the technical support of the Cameroonian Ministry of Industrial and Commercial Development.

The Training Programme is taking place within the framework of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which was voted as a law by the American Congress in 2000. The four-year-old law permits eligible African countries to export some of their products to the US duty free.

The 14-man Cameroonian Delegation on the trade mission to the US comprises dealers in textile and craft goods, agro-industrial products like foodstuff and palm oil ; second hand goods such as dresses, mobile telephones and computers ; tailoring materials, natural cosmetic products, non-timber forest products, building materials and maintenance of industrial equipment. The Port Authority and Municipality of Douala will also be represented.

Besides public exhibitions, the African Business Delegation, while in the US will receive lectures on a wide range of business-related topics in the areas of US trade barriers, business networking, finance and investments, financing opportunities, certification for agricultural import to the US, strategies for successful business in textile and craft, business financing options available from the US Export-Import Bank and animal and plant health inspection.

Furthermore, the visiting trade delegates will meet with the authorities of the Graduate School, USDA, the Historical Black Colleges and Universities and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The forum will also provide a window of opportunities for small-and medium-sized enterprises and organisations in Africa to discuss business and network expansion opportunities with their American counterparts.

The AGOA Training Centre-Africa (ATCA), based in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, was created in 2001 to Represent the Graduate School, USDA and to train African businessmen on the requirements of trading under the AGOA Law.

Latest AGOA Trade Data on AGOA.info


Click here to view a sector profile of Cameroon’s bilateral trade with the United States, disaggregated by total exports and imports, AGOA exports and GSP exports.

Other regularly updated trade statistics on AGOA.info include: