The sourcing landscape for denim jeans is slowly but certainly shifting, while overall U.S. blue denim apparel imports continue to decline. Imports of jeans fell 7.43 percent in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2020 to a value of $460.25 million, expanding on a 5.36 percent year-over-year falloff in January, according to the Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles & Apparel (OTEXA). Coming off...

09 April 2021

With only about a week left, the United States government says it is "disheartened" by Lesotho's failure to address its human trafficking concerns. This puts the country on the brink, with the real risk of losing billions of maloti in funding under the second compact and about 45 000 textiles jobs facing serious jeopardy. The US had given Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro's government a 1 February 2021 deadline to address an array of human...

28 January 2021

The country has the right skills in place — now it just needs co-ordination and capacity. The health and economic crisis brought on by Covid-19 has had a global economic effect. From disrupted supply chains to restrictions on the free movement of people and their skills, goods and capital, the world has had to adjust to a “new normal”. A question on the lips of those contemplating filling the void left by the forced rethink of the...

25 September 2020

The AGOA.info Exporter Toolkit resources have been enhanced through the addition of brochures and infographics on AGOA-related subjects.  This includes many 'national' AGOA country brochures that provide an overview of a country's AGOA-related developments and trade performance.  Other themed brochures include those of a more technical nature (Rules of Origin, AGOA eligibility and review provisions), as well as more sector-focused...

25 January 2019

Lesotho is expected to register three percent economic growth in the current fiscal year. But the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the government needs to aggressively control spending and address the fragile political situation in the country. The warnings are part of the IMF findings which were released this week after an IMF staff team, led by Christine Dieterich, visited Maseru from 2 to 15 November 2017 for...

24 November 2017

For much of her childhood, Ntaoleng Moloi’s father was like a ghost. He missed birthdays and first days of school, family jokes and first snows. Months and then whole seasons passed without his presence. It felt, at times, like he was thousands of feet below the surface of her life, somewhere dark and unreachable.  That’s because, for much of the time, he was. Moloi’s father was a gold miner, and like many men of his generation in...

30 December 2016

An estimated 20,000 workers have taken part in demonstrations in Lesotho in a bid to end political instability that threatens the southern African nation's duty free access to the US through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The demonstrators are calling on the government to restore democracy and the rule of law after a coup in 2014. The US has already threatened Lesotho's access to AGOA if this does not happen, and the regional...

07 December 2016

For much of her childhood, Ntaoleng Moloi's father was like a ghost. He missed birthdays and first days of school, family jokes and first snows. Months and then whole seasons passed without his presence. It felt, at times, like he was thousands of feet below the surface of her life, somewhere dark and unreachable. That's because, for much of the time, he was. Moloi's father was a gold miner, and like many men of his generation in Lesotho -...

05 December 2016

The textiles and garments industry in Lesotho, exported at least $330 million worth of products to the U.S. last year, making it the country’s largest private-sector employer as the nation reaps big from the African and Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The tiny Southern African nation is one of the African nations benefiting from the trade pact signed in 2000, allowing at least 6,000 products from 38 sub-Saharan African to enter the U.S....

09 November 2016

Next time you pick up sporting gear or a pair of jeans in a US mall, do check the label. It may have been made in Lesotho, a small, mountainous and land-locked country completely surrounded by South Africa, with a population of around two million. Lesotho is a beneficiary of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which allows over 6,400 products from eligible sub-Saharan African countries to enter the US market duty-free. The country...

14 October 2016

The US- Africa African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum, which took place from September 22-26, 2016, in Washington DC, USA, was an opportunity for both African countries and the US to reflect on the gains made under AGOA to date. This was especially important as indications point to the current iteration of AGOA being the last one ahead of a new trade dispensation between the US and Africa from 2025 onwards, punctuated by reciprocal...

03 October 2016