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National AGOA Strategies

These strategies have been prepared by AGOA beneficiaries as part of their planning to enhance the utilization of preferences under AGOA. They are ordered in alphabetical order. 
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Botswana - National AGOA Strategy

This document was prepared following a multiple stakeholder consultation process facilitated by the Botswana Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry with assistance from the USAID Southern Africa Trade and Investment Hub. The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

Author
Southern Africa Trade Hub | USAID
Organisation
Government of Botswana
Publication Date
01 September 2017

Botswana - UPDATED National AGOA Strategy (2021)

The National AGOA Response Strategy provides a key guiding framework on strategic areas of interventions that would allow for Botswana to broaden and deepen its use of the AGOA preference program. This [updated] Strategy, therefore, seeks to ensure that the country remains on course to developing Botswana’s export and manufacturing sectors. As an update to the initial AGOA National Response Strategy that was launched in September 2017, there are various parts this updated strategy that represent substantive and material changes that are in line with the government’s policy focus and challenges faced by private sector. To that end, the revision of Botswana’s AGOA National Response Strategy drew on extensive consultations with various parts of government – including state departments and implementing agencies –, as well as private sector associations, individual firms, parastatals, women’s groups and other stakeholders. The views solicited responded to the key result areas of the Strategy, as well as new areas that warrant focus in line with changes in the economy, and the needs of the private sector. As expected, a great portion of the original content of the Strategy remained relevant and spoke to the existing and on-going challenges facing the private sector in particular, and the economy in general. These included the need to enhance competitiveness and productivity, creating awareness of AGOA, improving logistics and reducing transport costs, among others....

Author
USAID | SATIHUB | Botswana MITI
Organisation
Botswana MITI
Publication Date
15 March 2021

Burundi - National AGOA Strategy

The preferential market access granted to Burundi and other African countries through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has yet to benefit to Burundi. In Sub Saharan African AGOA eligible countries, the textiles and apparel sector grew annually at an average rate of five percent since AGOA’s adoption and leading non-textile/apparel exports grew annually at as much as 23 percent between 2001-2006 and an overall rate of 12 percent since 2001. However, preferential access to the US market has not yet contributed to the creation of any significant manufacturing activities in Burundi.

Organisation
USAID / East Africa Trade Hub
Publication Date
19 February 2014

Eswatini - National AGOA Strategy

Eswatini has been an AGOA beneficiary since 2001; however, the country was suspended from the program in 2015 and reinstated in 2017. In January 2018, Eswatini’s AGOA benefits were fully restored; hence, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade (MCIT), in the spirit of private- and public-sector partnership, is undertaking the development of a national AGOA Utilization Strategy and Action Plan. This National AGOA Utilization Strategy for Eswatini was informed by the African Union guidelines, which promote five key elements to ensure a structured and results-based country response to the opportunities offered under AGOA. These elements include: the establishment of a national AGOA institutional structure that includes a ministerial taskforce on AGOA and a national AGOA secretariat; the identification of priority sectors for support; the development of support programs for priority sectors; the development of a comprehensive strategy for promoting U.S. investments, with emphasis on investments by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as investments in agriculture and agro-processing; and the adoption of a results-based monitoring and evaluation framework. This document contains a National AGOA Utilization Strategy for Eswatini and provides a detailed plan for increasing exports from Eswatini to the United States as well as for promoting U.S. investment into 8 Eswatini.

Organisation
USAID Southern Africa
Publication Date
15 February 2021

Ethiopia - National AGOA Strategy (DRAFT)

[Note: an updated strategy is currently being prepared]. The Ethiopian Ministry of Trade, in cooperation with the African Trade Policy Center of the UNECA, has undertaken a grand initiative to develop a National AGOA Response Strategy to identify key supply side constraints that impede the performance of the export sector and suggest possible interventions to help overcome these constraints. 

Organisation
Ethiopia Ministry of Trade / UNECA
Publication Date
25 November 2015

Ghana - National AGOA Strategy

The Ghana Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) has taken the opportunity to develop a new strategic approach for utilizing Ghana’s preferential market access to the United States markets, extended by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which was renewed last year through 2025 by an act of the United States Congress. The approach has taken on board the advice offered by Brookings Institute, and the United States General Accountability Office (USGAO) about the importance of developing a strategic approach for utilizing AGOA. This strategy document is the end product of intensive collaboration between Senior MOTI Officials and a team of expert consultants fielded by USAID|Ghana.

Author
Dexis Consulting Group
Publication Date
04 November 2016
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Guidelines on developing a national AGOA strategy

This report provides guidelines for developing a National AGOA Response Strategy for African countries that are designated as eligible under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). AGOA is a U.S. development effort that was promulgated into law in May 2000 and provides eligible countries in sub‐Saharan Africa with more liberal access to the U.S. market. Initially set to expire in 2008, AGOA was extended to 2015 in 2006, and efforts are currently under way to extend AGOA beyond 2015. ...

Author
AU / UNECA / Africa Trade Policy Centre
Publication Date
15 June 2012

Kenya - National AGOA Strategy 2012 (updated version below)

The preferential market access granted to Kenya and other African countries through the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has played a critical role in spurring Kenya’s exports with the US. This has been most dramatic in the case of the textiles and apparel sector, which grew at 44% a year in the few years after AGOA’s passage. In effect, AGOA has created an apparel industry in Kenya on a scale that the country would unlikely have achieved without preferential access to the US market.

Organisation
USAID / Chemonics International
Publication Date
27 June 2012
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Kenya - National AGOA Strategy 2018-2023

Prepared by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives with support from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) East Africa Trade and Investment Hub. The Kenya National African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Strategy and Action Plan (2018 – 2023) provides strategies and actions for increasing exports to the United States (U.S.) informed by an analysis of identified priority sectors. The overall approach of the Strategy offers multiple actions in areas ranging from expanding U.S. market share and buyer diversification to trade facilitation, skills development, increasing productivity, trade-support capacity building, and export supply development. The development of the Strategy and Action Plan demonstrates the commitment of the Government in supporting national export activities. The document also confirms the progress we are making as a country in strengthening our relations with the United States especially in areas of export trade and investment.  

Author
Kenya Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives
Publication Date
30 July 2018

Lesotho - National AGOA Strategy (updated version below)

The Government of Lesotho (GoL) has decided to prepare a National AGOA Response Strategy with the overarching objective of improving and up-scaling the implementation of AGOA and establishing a diversified manufacturing sector in response to the anticipated extension of the existing AGOA agreement. After 13 years of implementation of AGOA, Lesotho has managed to establish one of the largest textile and garment manufacturing industry in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), which has also turned out to be the biggest employer in the country. Until recently, it has consistently been the number one exporter of apparel to the US under AGOA among the SSA countries. This achievement has been no small feat and the GoL is doing everything within its means to protect and sustain the industry, more so because of its labour intensive nature and largely employing women. ...

Author
Peete Molapo
Organisation
UNECA / Ministry of Trade
Publication Date
01 June 2016

Lesotho - UPDATED National AGOA Strategy

This document contains a National African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Utilization (Response) Strategy for Lesotho. The strategy provides a comprehensive plan to increase exports from Lesotho to the United States under the AGOA nonreciprocal unilateral trade preference program and attract more U.S. investment into Lesotho. A detailed Implementation Plan Matrix of this AGOA Utilization Strategy for Lesotho includes strategic objectives, performance indicators, anticipated deliverables and proposed lead and support institution(s) responsible for the implementation of the activity as well as the timeframe for implementation indicated as short term (1-2 years), medium term (over 2-5 years), and long term (over 5 years). The objective for highlighting the strategic activities and specific implementing entities is to provide clarity to avoid duplication of effort and to facilitate effective implementation of the strategy guided by clear monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities.  

Author
USAID
Organisation
Lesotho Ministry of Trade and Industry
Publication Date
15 August 2018

Madagascar - National AGOA Strategy (new version below)

The objective of the AGOA strategy is to support the ability of Madagascar’s firms to successfully sell into the U.S. market, leveraging every opportunity that AGOA provides. AGOA has had a clear impact in stimulating Africa-U.S. trade. All exports, including energy-related products, from AGOA-eligible countries have grown over 300 percent, from $21.5 billion in 2000 to $86.1 billion in 2008. It has created more than 300,000 jobs, many of which are in the apparel sector, an industry that provides employment opportunities for women.

Organisation
USAID East Africa Trade and Investment Hub
Publication Date
08 April 2015
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