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.
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