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The government has hired a newly influential US lobbying firm partly in order to help Kenya block a threat to the sizable trade benefits it receives through the AGOA programme, Kenya’s embassy in Washington said on Friday. More than 66,000 jobs in Kenya are in “imminent danger and threat of being lost” due to a move by a US trade association to have all the East African Community member-states barred from continued participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the embassy warned. Kenya last year exported Sh35.2 billion...

The American Business Council of Sierra Leone (ABC) has recently been officially launched as a forum for United States and Sierra Leonean companies to strengthen commercial ties between the two countries. The American Business Council according to Scott Risner Economic and Commercial Officer Embassy of the United States of America in Sierra Leone will engage local businesses and the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SLIEPA) to build a more...

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Sunday urged the South African government to engage with the new US administration to preserve the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). In its Policy Discussion Document which underscores the importance of bridging the gap between the developed North and the developing South, the ANC said the new administration in the US has not yet pronounced on its Africa policy, and to this end "we will adopt a wait-and-see approach". The renewal of AGOA too remains uncertain, the party said. South...

East African Community partner states have agreed to grant garments and textiles manufacturers a three-year waiver of duties and value added tax (VAT) on inputs, fabrics and accessories not available in the region to boost local production and reduce the cost of production. This is one of the strategies to promote textiles and leather industries while slowing down the importation of used clothes, shoes and other leather products from outside the region. The EAC partners will now adopt a three-year strategy (2017-2019) for the phase-out of...

In a bid to exploit the market in the world's largest economy through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) extension, firms from the United States will now partner with those from Uganda, especially in the agri-business sector. The business partnerships are expected to step up Uganda's production and capacity of the agricultural sector and the levels of trade and investment between the two countries. This was one of the outcomes during the just-concluded meeting between the US agricultural trade mission and the Private Sector...

The U.S. must remain active in Africa, which is in the midst of three famines and ongoing political instability, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said during a recent hearing in Washington. “Our engagement in Africa is in the strategic interest of the U.S. not only to address urgent humanitarian aid, but also to advance economic, political and security interests," Congressman Ed Royce, a Republican from California, said. "Now is not the time to pull back." Africa, with some of the fastest-growing economies in the...

It is often said the macroeconomic standing of the agricultural sector has diminished, an argument supported by the sector’s declining share of GDP, which fell from 4.2% in 1996 to 2.3% in 2015. However, what is not captured in this narrative is that the value of the agricultural sector has grown 40%, from R50.5bn to R71.4bn over that period. This translates to a fairly modest average annual growth rate of 2.1% over the past two decades, which explains why agriculture’s relative share to the economy has been declining. Agriculture is...

Nigeria’s textile and apparel industry covers the entire clothing value chain, and has a strong potential for growth due to availability of cotton and the country’s large market-size represented by over 170 million inhabitants, who provide a natural market for textiles and apparels. Moreover, there is also the scope to export Nigerian textiles and apparels to other markets, especially to the USA under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The decline of the industry, which started from 2003, has resulted in Nigeria spending...

The South African government’s increasingly protectionist stance risks damaging the country’s international trade and investment relationships, say experts. According to Peter Leon, partner and Africa co-chair at Herbert Smith Freehills, President Jacob Zuma’s administration has, in its second term, become “more protectionist, inward looking and economically nationalistic” than that of his predecessors Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki. He explained that the Mandela and Mbeki administrations saw the negotiation and implementation of...

Kenya has backed away from plans to impose a ban on second-hand clothes in a move officials say will leave local textile dealers at the mercy of market forces. Industrialisation secretary Adan Mohamed told reporters in Beijing that retaining the flow of these clothes, commonly known as mitumba, into the country will allow both importers and local producers to remain in business. “...it is our desire to develop and promote our textile industry in our country to create more jobs for people in our country,” he said at a press conference...

A leading trade expert is urging those South African businesses currently benefiting from preferential market access to the US under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) to begin to “wean” themselves off such benefits, owing to the increased risk of those preferences being revoked ahead of Agoa’s official expiry in 2025. In fact, Peter Draper, who is a member of World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Trade and Investment, cautions that scrutiny of South Africa’s eligibility is likely to be intensified under...

On former President George W. Bush’s trip this month to Africa, he underscored the importance of sustaining American foreign assistance programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. He pointed to the success of health programs like PEPFAR and Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon in saving and improving millions of lives. Economic development initiatives in Africa likewise are critical to the stability of the region. Similarly, they are in America’s interest when they open markets to our goods and create prosperous economies. A good example is the African Growth...

In a bid to enhance the industrial value of manufacturers in Abia State, Fidelity Bank, in collaboration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Ghana-based West African Trade and Investment (WATI) hub recently held a capacity building workshop on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to sensitise the Aba leather and garment cluster on essential services targeted to build their businesses. Amby Uneze reports. As part of her key functions to provide her customers and the business community across the country the needed...

Ethiopia attracted foreign investments of US$1.2 billion in the first six months of the 2016-2017 fiscal year, dominated by Chinese companies. The investment is helping Ethiopia develop as a manufacturing hub for the global textile market. Out of the 124 foreign investors that expressed an interest in Ethiopia’s textile and clothing sector over the past three months, 71 were from China. Indian clothing and textile industry could also be a significant future player, with more than 30 investor inquiries. “The bulk of recent investment...