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Nigeria: Benue State partners US on AGOA

Published date:
Monday, 16 February 2009

The United States of America on Thursday announced its decision to assist the Benue State government to enhance agricultural production, especially in the area of processing and export as part of strategies to enable the state benefit from trade opportunities under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The decision was the outcome of a meeting in Makurdi between the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Rabin Sanders and the Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam.

A statement from Cletus Akwaya, Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to the Benue State governor said Benue would receive technical support to establish a screening center for some of the produce like mango, Oranges , Pineapple, bananas, tomatoes etc. which abound and are currently wasting in the state. The agricultural items are among the list of 6,800 exportable items covered by the AGOA. The US government will also assist Benue State to set up a marketing board in the State to facilitate the processing of major agriculture produce for export to the United States .

Sanders announced at the meeting that her visit in Makurdi was in line the US government's determination to support agriculture in Nigeria adding Benue was selected for the initiative because of her potentials in agriculture. The United States Ambassador said she was in Benue state to commence her annual two-week profile tour of Nigerian states with the strategic aim of partnering with local agricultural ventures to boast agricultural production, not just for self-sufficiency in the state, but also for export to US market.

She said Benue State, as the Food Basket of the Nation, which was similar to the State of Iowa in many respects, was chosen as a the model state for the public-private partnership programme of the United States which was designed to extend credit facilities to local farmers who may have located their produce and find it sufficient for export to the United States.



“ Latest AGOA Trade Data currently available on AGOA.info


Click here to view a sector profile of Nigeria'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)

  • AGOA-Beneficiary Countries’ AGOA and GSP Trade Aggregates

  • AGOA Trade by Industry Sector

  • Apparel Trade under AGOA’s Wearing Apparel Provisions

  • Latest Apparel Quotas under AGOA

  • Bilateral Trade Data for all AGOA-eligible countries individually.

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