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Kenya upbeat of a trade deal with US by December
Kenya is hopeful of sealing a trade deal with the US by the end of this year, as the second round of physical meetings heads to Nairobi next month. This comes a mid increased interest in Kenya’s Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) by the US at this year’s American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Business Summit in Nairobi, a strategic platform for strengthening two-way trade and investment between the two countries, and East Africa. A US delegation is expected in Nairobi next month for what is expected to be a...
US and Kenya to hold first negotiating round under their Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP)
The United States and Kenya will hold an in-person negotiating round under their Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) in Kenya from April 17-20, 2023. The United States delegation will be led by Assistant United States Trade Representative Connie Hamilton, and will include representatives from several other U.S. government agencies. Conceptual discussions under the STIP initiative were held in Washington, DC, on February 6-February 10, 2023. During those meetings, the United States and Kenya engaged in productive...
Pressure mounts on Biden over Trump-era Kenya-US trade deal
One of the biggest and most influential US business lobby groups in America and a top American lawmaker on trade have urged the Biden administration to fast-track the Trump-era trade talks with Kenya, piling pressure on Washington to conclude the negotiations. They also want Washington to dialogue with Nairobi on the basis of the original or initial proposed model of a free trade agreement with Kenya, which was initiated by Biden's predecessor Donald Trump. They say such a trade deal has many benefits for the US but also Kenya and will...
EAC proposes flexible US market access under AGOA plan
The East African Community (EAC) wants the US government to make the rules governing access to their market more flexible under the planned renewal of the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA). The regional bloc, during its Council of Ministers Ordinary meeting held in February, made four new proposals to the Joe Biden administration to expand Agoa and make it more effective should the US Congress hasten its renewal before the 2025 expiry date. The proposals come in the wake of plans by the American Chamber of Commerce Kenya (AmCham), a...
State Secretary Blinken praises Ethiopia on Tigray peace, no return to trade programme yet
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised Ethiopia on Wednesday for its progress in implementing a peace deal to end the Tigray conflict, but stopped short of ushering the country back into a U.S. trade programme. Visiting Ethiopia to repair relations that were strained by the two-year war in the northern region, Blinken met with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and discussed ongoing efforts to solidify peace, restore basic services and address humanitarian needs. The Ethiopian government and forces from Tigray signed a ceasefire in...
Ethiopia asks US to reinstate AGOA trade benefits as US Secretary of State Blinken heads to Addis, Niger
Ethiopia is asking the Joe Biden administration to reinstate its duty-free access to the US market, arguing that “exceptional circumstances” warrant an immediate re-examination of its suspension just as Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Addis Ababa to discuss the cessation of hostilities in Tigray. The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) terminated Ethiopia’s participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) program effective 1 January 2022, accusing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government of “gross...
Strengthening growth & promoting US market access to women-led agricultural businesses in Madagascar
Women entrepreneurs are important sources of innovation, job creation, and economic growth, and critical actors in every aspect of the agriculture value chain. The U.S. Embassy is pleased to partner with the American Chamber of Commerce in Madagascar (AmCham) to empower Malagasy women entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector to access U.S. markets. More than half of AmCham Madagascar’s member companies operating in the food sector are led by women, but many of these companies do not take advantage of the lucrative U.S. market...
Kenya: Manufacturers push for 15-year AGOA extension
Kenyan manufacturers have asked the Trade ministry to request Washington to extend the existing duty- and quota-free access to the expansive US market window for another 15 years as the two countries prepare for talks over a long-term bilateral trade deal. The Kenya Association of Manufacturers, the sector lobby, argues that uncertainty over the more than two decades-Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) deal, which expires in two years, is costing the country billions of shillings in potential investments. “Kenya should seek an Agoa...
Opinon: 'Is it worth antagonising the US with Russia and China relations?
In the middle of an energy crisis and greylisting, SA could do without antagonising one of its biggest trade and investment partners. When SA welcomed the Russian warship Admiral Gorshkov — with the Kremlin’s pro-war symbol, the letter “Z”, on prominent display — it sparked a new diplomatic crisis with the US that could have profound economic consequences. This past week the US Congress introduced a resolution to reconsider its relationship with SA. House Resolution 145 opposes SA’s hosting of military exercises...
Kenya and US complete first round of trade talks
Kenya and the United States have concluded the first round of Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) that will form a basis for future bilateral engagements. The Kenyan delegation, led by Trade Principal Secretary Alfred K’Ombudo, hope that the five-day talks on the free trade agreement will bear fruits. The government has been scouting for areas of collaboration that will increase foreign direct investment, promote sustainable and inclusive growth that will also support women and small and medium enterprise...
Taking stock of America’s flagship trade programme for Africa
Pankaj Bedi strides through his factory on the edge of Nairobi, past clattering sewing machines, bustling workers and boxes of jeans. None of this would be here, he says, were it not for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The landmark trade policy was introduced by Bill Clinton in 2000, granting duty-free access for more than 6,000 products from sub-Saharan Africa. Two years later, Mr Bedi opened United Aryan, his clothing business in Kenya. He now employs 14,000 people. Lately Mr Bedi’s financiers have all been asking...
Transparent, participatory process needed for US-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership
U.S. and Kenyan officials are meeting this week in Washington for the first negotiating round of the U.S.-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP). Public Citizen submitted recommendations for the U.S.-Kenya negotiations to USTR as part of its public comment process last year. Melinda St. Louis, Global Trade Watch director at Public Citizen, issued the following statement: “The U.S. and Kenyan governments should start with a transparent and participatory negotiation process to ensure that these...
Kenyan and US officials to hold discussions on Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership
Trade representatives from Kenya and the US are set to hold an in-person first round of conceptual discussions under the Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) in Washington, DC, from February 6th to 10th. The US delegation will be led by Assistant Trade Representative Connie Hamilton and will include representatives from several other government agencies, the Office of the US Trade Representative said in a press release. The two nations launched the Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) in July last year to replace...
US and Kenya to hold first round under their Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP)
The United States and Kenya will hold an in-person round of conceptual discussions under their Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) in Washington, DC, from February 6-10, 2023. The United States delegation will be led by Assistant United States Trade Representative Connie Hamilton, and will include representatives from several other government agencies. United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai and then-Kenyan Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina launched the U.S.-Kenya STIPon July 14, 2022 and...
AGOA time: As 2025 approaches, opportunities for improvements eyed
Economic integration efforts underway in Africa and new ideas about decades-old U.S. trade policy could provide a host of options for bolstering Washington’s cornerstone trade policy program with sub-Saharan African countries, analysts and former senior officials tell Inside U.S. Trade. The African Growth and Opportunity Act, first signed into law in 2000, “has done more than people give it credit for, but it has not done nearly enough that it could and should do,” former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Florizelle Liser said in an...
'AGOA shows US has successfully courted Africa' - Columnist
US treasury secretary Janet Yellen is in town this week. While news headlines have focused on the overlapping visits to the continent of Yellen, Russia’s Sergey Lavrov and China’s Qin Gang, Yellen’s comparative advantage is marked. She’s a pre-eminent economist — the first to have led the Federal Reserve, the White House council of economic advisers and the treasury — and she’s here to leverage that experience to build US-Africa relations. Fellow columnist John Dludlu recently suggested Washington’s overtures to Africa are...
US treasury secretary Janet Yellen touts deeper ties with South Africa to help boost trade
The US is seeking to deepen its economic integration with South Africa in pursuit of policies to diversify global supply chains, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. Closer ties with nations that share the US’s economic values will help promote so-called friendshoring, in which allies cooperate on manufacturing and sourcing raw materials, Yellen said at a meeting with South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Thursday. Her remarks come in a week in which South Africa defended its neutral stance in Russia’s...
USITC confirms anti-dumping duties against imports of lemon juice from South Africa
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) intends to issue an order imposing anti-dumping duties on lemon juice imported from South Africa and Brazil. The agency advises the US government on trade matters and intends to release a report based on its investigation by early March this year. The USITC announced on Monday that it had completed an investigation, which indicated that lemon juice imports from SA and Brazil either are materially injuring the US market or pose a threat of doing so, due to being sold at less-than-fair...
Africa seeks bigger US trade slice for AGOA to make sense
African countries may need more trade privileges with the US even as Washington reviews the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) meant to expand what the continent will export. At the end of the US-Africa summit in December, Washington pledged to renew Agoa, bringing clarity to uncertainties that had befell exporters from countries such as Kenya. But now experts say the narrow view of Agoa should be expanded to allow them to export more goods and hence benefit more countries that are able to make a diversified list of goods. “Agoa...
The US-Africa Leaders Summit marks a seismic shift in relations with the continent
The second edition of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit (ALS) took place in Washington last week. Much has changed since former president Barack Obama held the inaugural summit in 2014, halfway through his second term. At that time, the geopolitical environment for strengthening ties was less fraught: global economic integration was accelerating, and Africa was “rising” from sluggish growth and persistent poverty. The initial summit was framed as an important first step in engaging with a “a new, more prosperous Africa,” as Obama put...
A proclamation to take certain actions under AGOA and for other purposes [Burkina Faso]
(1) In Proclamation 7853 of December 10, 2004, the President designated Burkina Faso as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country for purposes of section 506A(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the “Trade Act”), as added by section 111(a) of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (the “AGOA”) (title I of Public Law 106-200, 114 Stat. 251, 257-58 (19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(1))). (2) Section 506A(a)(3) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(3)) provides that the President shall terminate the designation of a country as a beneficiary...
Ghana trade minister calls for strategic US investment in African agribusinesses
The Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen, has advocated for intensive investment in the agricultural sector as part of major plans to economically empower the African continent. The Minister made this pronouncement during the recent summit of US- African leaders in Washington DC. The US-Africa Leaders’ Summit was anchored on the shared values of fostering new economic engagement; reinforcing the US-Africa commitment to democracy and human rights; mitigating the impact of Covid-19 and future pandemics. It also focused on working...
Key to Africa’s growth is within the continent
The outcome of the US-Africa Leaders Summit once again shows why the continent is better off looking inwards for solutions. As the dust settles, the deals unveiled at the summit are coming under closer scrutiny. The $15 billion and the headline commitment by President Joe Biden to inject $55 billion into the continent over a three-year period have particularly attracted animated debate. On social media platforms, many commentators suggested that it was too little for a continent of 55 nations. Parted out evenly, that would average $360...
'Poor relatives always show up, rich ones don't', Biden says as he plans Africa trip
U.S. President Joe Biden capped a summit of 50 African leaders by stressing his administration's deep commitment to Africa, urging the continent's leaders to respect the will of their people, and saying he may come visit. The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit concluded Thursday with bonhomie, $55 billion (Sh6.8 trillion) in U.S. commitments, and this from Biden: "As I told some of you — you invited me to your countries," he said. "I said, "Be careful what you wish for because I may show up. The poor relatives always show up. The wealthy ones...
US and AfCFTA members sign MOU on trade cooperation
On December 14, 2022, the United States and African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat (AfCFTA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation for Trade and Investment between the United States and the African Continental Free Trade Area (MOU) see document alongside. The MOU was signed by U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai and AfCFTA Secretary General Wamkele Mene during the 2022 U.S.-Africa Business Forum. The African Continental Free Trade Area was established in March 2018 and currently...
US apparel and footwear association calls for prioritising AGOA renewal at US-Africa Leaders Summit
The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) and more than 20 organisations have appealed for long-term renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The apparel industry of US, in a letter to President Joe Biden, urged the government to prioritise this request at the ongoing US-Africa Leaders Summit that will end on December 15, 2022. The organisations emphasised on the timely renewal of AGOA for a 10-year period, so that it would be impactful for companies hoping to grow commitments towards a vertical, responsible,...
White House Statement on US-Africa Leaders Summit: Strengthening partnerships to meet shared priorities
The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, from December 13-15 in Washington DC, highlighted the U.S. commitment to expanding and deepening our partnership with African countries, institutions, and people. Our world is quickly changing, and U.S. engagement in Africa must evolve accordingly. African leadership and contributions are essential to addressing today’s pressing challenges and achieving shared priorities. The Biden-Harris Administration is deepening longstanding areas of cooperation while revitalizing and expanding our...
Fact sheet: US- Africa partnership in promoting two-way trade and investment in Africa
Africa’s integration into global markets, demographic boom, and continent-wide spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation present an extraordinary opportunity for the United States to invest in Africa’s future. The United States will support and facilitate mobilizing private capital to fuel economic growth, job creation, and greater U.S. participation in Africa’s future. Together, business and government leaders will strengthen trade- and investment-enabling environments, including fostering the development and...
Joe Biden is meeting African leaders - why free trade is a major talking point
African leaders face a dilemma over trade relations with the United States. Should they push for the extension of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) or for each country’s bilateral trade deal with the world’s biggest economy? AGOA was the signature economic policy of the Bill Clinton administration. It provides eligible sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the US market for over 1,800 products. It is set to expire in 2025 but is up for discussion at the annual forum on AGOA taking place alongside the...
Bipartisan lawmakers in Congress are calling for the renewal of AGOA
As President Joe Biden hosts nearly 50 African leaders in a summit aiming to boost U.S.-Africa relations, one prominent issue has circulated across the Hill: the renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which is set to expire in 2025. What is it? The 22-year-old program works to provide eligible sub-Saharan African nations with additional duty-free access to more than 1,800 designated products, with the aim of assisting the countries and easing economic relations between the U.S. and Africa. Senate...
US trade chief Tai says African trade program needs to foster more investment
The duty-free access for nearly 40 African countries in a 22-year-old U.S. trade program is no longer enough to boost their development and a focus on improving investment is needed, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Tuesday. Tai, after a meeting with African counterparts at the start of a Sub-Saharan African leaders summit in Washington, said the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) needs improving to foster more equitable and sustainable growth. Speaking at a U.S. Export-Import Bank conference, Tai said ministers...
Enhancing relationships a top priority as US-Africa summit begins next week
For only the second time in eight years, leaders from the United States and Africa will meet next week in the nation’s capital to discuss economic matters and other topics. President Joe Biden is expected to host roughly more than 50 African heads of state from Dec. 13 through Dec. 15 in Washington, D.C., at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in 2022. The fresh effort is aimed to “demonstrate the United States’ enduring commitment to Africa and emphasize the significance of building new relations between both...
Leaders Summit 2022: US strikes a conciliatory tone
8 years after former US President Obama had African leaders come over to the US capital, President Biden, then Vice President of the US, has replicated the gesture of his former principal. This week more than 40 African heads of state were in Washington D.C for the second US-Africa Leaders Summit. Leader-to-leader meetings were expected but not announced in the lead-up to the summit. Ultimately, Biden failed to hold any talks directly with African heads of state. That role fell to Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, who held talks...
Can the US and Africa usher in a new era for globalization?
As the United States looks to usher in a “new version” of globalization focused on resilience, inclusivity, and sustainability, it has eyes on its economic relationship with Africa, according to US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. Tai spoke at an Atlantic Council Front Page event on Friday alongside the African Continental Free Trade Area’s (AfCFTA) secretary-general, Wamkele Mene. She explained that the current form of globalization has done a great job to expand the size of the economic pie, but it “hasn’t done a...
7 December digital press briefing on the US-Africa Business Forum agenda
MEDIA ADVISORY | December 7 Digital Press Briefing on U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit with U.S. Department of State Bureau of African Affairs Assistant Secretary of State, Molly Phee, and National Security Council Senior Director for African Affairs, Judd Devermont. EVENT: Please join us on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, for a digital press briefing with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs Assistant Secretary of State, Molly Phee and National Security Council Senior Director...
Op-Ed | Africa-US: Commercial ties will shape the partnership in the 21st century
In early August, with its release of its strategy toward sub-Saharan Africa, the Biden-Harris administration laid out a bold vision for a 21st-century US-Africa partnership. The strategy and the upcoming Africa Leaders Summit, which President Biden and his deputy Harris will host in December, comes at the right time. Africa’s economic transformation — spurred by its young and rapidly urbanising populations, digitalisation initiatives, abundant natural and human resources, and a continent-wide commitment to free trade — has proceeded...
‘US companies should be looking at Africa for sourcing and manufacturing’
The president and CEO of the Washington-based Corporate Council on Africa talks to African Business ahead of the US-Africa Leaders Summit in December. The US-Africa Leaders Summit takes place in Washington, DC, from December 13 to 15 2022. With 49 African leaders invited, the meeting is due to cover multiple aspects of the relationship between the US and Africa, including economic engagement, security, education, health and climate-related issues. Florie Liser has headed the Washington-based Corporate Council on Africa since...
Biden administration doing a ‘good job’ on Africa
Despite disruptions to the world economy, the Biden administration has delivered on its bid to ramp up trade and investment with Africa, says Laird Treiber of the CSIS. In the context of the global food, fuel and pandemic crises, how do you think Washington’s Africa policy has shaped up compared to President Joe Biden’s predecessors? The Biden team has done a pretty good job of coordinating with allies, the IMF, international bodies, the World Bank and others. There has been a host of disruptions to production and global...
Gabon to unleash $20.5m to support US-bound export over next three years
Gabon announced Thursday plans to inject around $20.5 million to support exports towards the U.S over next three years, reports say. Yves Fernand Manfoumbi, the Minister of Trade of the African country, announced the move adding that the strategy will tap into support from bilateral and multilateral financial partners. “This strategy will be financed by multilateral and bilateral financial partners and, of course, by direct financing from the State’s resources,” Manfoumbi said. “The activities planned each year will be subject to...
US embassy Madagascar: Remarks by ambassador Claire Pierangelo on US support, AGOA, investment
I’m honored to speak to you tonight, both as the U.S. Ambassador to Madagascar and as an honorary Member of the Board of AmCham. I have had the great pleasure to work with AMCHAMs around the world during my career and believe that this is one of the critical relationships for the U.S. government. Central to the United States’ goal of promoting peace and prosperity abroad is encouraging good governance and economic development. Now more than ever, countries need to cooperate as we jointly face global challenges – from the...
The US-Africa Business Forum: connecting enterprise and purpose at the US-Africa leaders summit
Over three days in December, President Joe Biden will host the second U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C.--the first head of state gathering of African leaders and a U.S. president since 2014. The Summit, taking place from December 13-15, 2022, includes a CEO business forum on December 14 called the U.S.-Africa Business Forum (USABF) for which the Chamber is an official partner. The business forum focuses on growing the commercial partnership between the U.S. and Africa, with priority discussion topics including the...
President Biden to host US-Africa leaders summit in December
President Biden is hosting leaders from across the African continent in Washington, DC on December 13-15, 2022, for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. The Summit will demonstrate the United States’ enduring commitment to Africa, and will underscore the importance of U.S.-Africa relations and increased cooperation on shared global priorities. Africa will shape the future — not just the future of the African people, but of the world. Africa will make the difference in tackling the most urgent challenges and seizing the...
Kenya: Farmers tapping into lucrative silk farming for export
Sericulture or silk farming is practised in many countries, with China and India dominating the global market, accounting for over 60 per cent of the yield. An acre of land can produce silk worth Ksh1,800,000 annually and the product is considered to have a sustainable market in the European Union (EU), the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA - United States) and Far East Markets. Kenya has a favourable climate for silk farming, as it does well at temperatures between 23⁰-28⁰C. It also thrives in high humidity areas with...
Kenyan manufacturers eye US market in growth plan
Manufactures in Kenya are banking on the pending trade deal with the US to grow the sectors’ contribution to the GDP and create jobs. The sector targets a 20 per cent contribution to economy by 2030. This will be driven by an increase in production of high quality products that will help expand supply and grow exports, the Kenya Association of Manufactures (KAM) has said. “AGOA has provided a significant market for Kenya’s textiles and apparels sector over the years, and we look forward to sustained preferential market access...
US DOA leads trade delegation to Kenya as country embraces GM crops
Representatives from 32 United States agribusiness firms arrived in Kenya on October 30 as part of an American government delegation scouting for trade opportunities. The US food firms are looking for new and expanded markets in Kenya for their crops. Kenya currently faces food insecurity and also wants to seal a trade deal with Americas. Nairobi has been pressured by Washington to allow access to its genetically modified (GM) food and crop products and this month gave approval to GM imports, providing a huge market opportunity for...
Kenya President Ruto’s warm relationship with US likely to expedite trade deal
Kenya and the US will be taking another shot at the dragging trade talks with hopes of reaching a deal before the year 2025. This is when the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) lapses. AGOA eliminates import tariffs on goods from eligible African nations, with its coming to an end putting countries under pressure to secure a pact that will see them continue to enjoy preferential trade terms. President William Ruto’s warm relationship with the US is seen as a possible catalyst for the process, which has suffered back-to-back...
US to remove Burkina Faso from AGOA effective 1 January 2023: White House
U.S. President Joe Biden revealed on Wednesday his intent to exclude Burkina Faso from a U.S.-Africa trade pact, citing a lack of progress toward protecting the rule of law and political pluralism. Biden said that Washington will terminate Burkina Faso's designation as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), starting January 2023 as it has not met"eligibility requirements." The decision follows two coups that shook the Sahel nation this year as a result of frustration over the...
Kenya president Ruto: Country ready for more trade deals with the US
President Ruto has said Kenya is ready for more trade deals with the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) program, which gives Kenya and 40 other sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the US market for over 6,000 products. Ruto, who hosted a US delegation at State House, Nairobi, on Monday, said the country has plenty more to offer the United States as a trade partner. "Kenya largely exports apparel products to the USA with potential to export more products including value-added tea, coffee, and cut flowers,"...
US food firms to visit Kenya scouting for trade opportunities
Representatives from 32 US agribusiness firms are set to jet into Kenya on Sunday as part of an American government delegation scouting for trade opportunities. The US food firms are looking for new and expanded markets in Kenya for their crops. Kenya currently faces food insecurity and also wants to seal a trade deal with Americas. Nairobi has been pressured by Washington to allow access to its genetically modified (GM) food and crop products and this month gave approval to GM imports, providing a huge market opportunity for American...
Uganda: In the business of exporting to the US
With the desire to bridge the nine months gap between Senior 6 vacation and university admission, Seko Designs was born. As a Year Two university student, Agnes Kitumba Nitunze, the chief executive officer Seko Designs met Elizabeth Bohannon, an American volunteer to start a journey that birthed the company. “Seko saw that these energetic youth were idle thus some married off, getting early pregnancies while others did not see the need to further their education. As such, we sought to tap into that energy. The other thing was to...