A USAID-funded programme working on the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) VEGA Ethiopia said that the country's export to the US under the initiative is steadily increasing.

In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald yesterday, Programme Chief of Staff Addis Alemayehu said that Ethiopia exported items worth of 700,000 dollars in 2001 growing to 1.7 million in 2003. In 2004 and 2005 the country exported goods worth of 3.3 and 3.6 million USD respectively.

Currently, Ethiopia ranks 19th among the 37 AGOA eligible countries in terms of revenue generation through AGOA initiative, he said.

According to Addis, although over 6,000 different commodities are allowed to enter the US market quota-and duty-free under AGOA, Ethiopia's main export was textile and garment products. About five companies are currently exporting textile and products to the US, he added.

He said as of last year, Ethiopia has started exporting handicrafts under special category called Category Nine, a special programme Ethiopia is eligible under. Of late, the country is starting to export cut flowers to the US market, he added.

"I believe in the next year or two, Ethiopia is considered to take a substantial advantage of the situation because there is a surge in the number of investments," Addis said.

The government is putting a lot of resources in various investment sectors such as flower, garment and textiles, Addis said. However, much more attention should also be given to marketing and promotional purposes, he added.

In this respect, the Programme, together with the government and the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce, is supporting the private sector taking advantage of the initiative, he said.

The other target of the Programme is to create business link between the Ethiopian business community and the Diaspora in the US so that they can do businesses, Addis said. According to him, trade shows were held in garment and textile.

Latest AGOA Trade Data currently available on AGOA.info


Click here to view a sector profile of Ethiopia’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: (click each link to view)