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A proposal from the US poultry industry aimed at resolving the ongoing impasse over their poultry imports into South Africa is tantamount to asking the country to shrink its economy, according to the South African Poultry Association (Sapa). Sapa chief executive Kevin Lovell said the industry body would shortly be responding to the latest offer by its US counterpart, the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (Usapeec), as the two wrestle with how to resolve a trade dispute that threatens to end South Africa’s participation in the African...

The Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) on Thursday, signed a Letter of Collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) West African Trade Hub and African Partners Network, in Accra. Signatures and exchange of the letter of collaboration were done at a ceremony to launch the new African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Trade Resource Centre, which was hosted by the GCCI within the World Trade Centre in Accra. Mr Jeffery Povolny represented the USAID Trade Hub and African Partners Network,...

The past couple of weeks witnessed lively interactions on poultry-related issues affecting the continuing review of the African Growth and Opportunity Act’s (Agoa) extension. The importance of Agoa for the economies of sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, as well as the US is unquestionable and well-documented. It is therefore critical that it be extended for a further 15 years with South Africa among the beneficiaries. It is also important that a constructive approach be pursued in addressing the set of challenges facing South...

It is announced from Glacis-sur-Mer that the Seychelles founding President James R. Mancham has agreed to join the AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act), a civil society organisation Network Letter Campaign for the timely reauthorization of AGOA with the US governement. It is to be noted that AGOA has been in operation since 2000 with a view to improve US-Africa trade and economic cooperation and that the Act is about to expire shortly. The letter to which Sir James has agreed to be a co-signatory will be sent to the Chairs and ranking...

It is frequently said that investing in Africa is not for the faint-hearted. It is less well appreciated that entering the U.S. market is not for the faint-hearted either, especially by those small and medium businesses in Africa that AGOA was designed to benefit. For the last 24 months, the African Union and African diplomatic corps in Washington have been advocating a 15-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The Obama administration has also called for a 15-year extension. Recently, I spent a week in Ethiopia...

During the week of March 2 to 6, I led a South African delegation to the US to make the case for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) to be extended by a further 15 years. Agoa was passed by the US Congress in May 2000 to facilitate trade between sub-Saharan African countries and the US. It was intended to assist African countries to improve their export performance, enhance economic development and reduce poverty. It provides duty-free access to the US market for 6 400 products from about 40 countries. While some African...

It may seem counter-intuitive to imagine that Africa could make contractual demands on the United States. Yet, there is evidence that in recent times, Africa has become more assertive with its new found confidence. In fact, it appears the continent is at a point in history where it no longer needs a begging bowl whenever its leaders visit Western capitals. This sense of confidence was on full display when Africa’s leaders converged in Washington DC for the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit last year. Mutual deals President Uhuru Kenyatta,...

South African and US government and business negotiators made progress last week in trying to solve a dispute about the entry of US meat products into the local market. This dispute was threatening South Africa’s continued participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). But there was still a lot of work to be done, US officials said. Agoa gives duty-free access to the lucrative US market for almost all South African exports and expires in September this year. The US Congress will decide soon whether and how to renew it...

The African Growth and Opportunity Act can drive development across the continent, argues Christopher Wood, so long as the US and African countries collaborate to make the scheme more inclusive. Policymakers in Pretoria, Nairobi and Maseru are holding their breath as the latest renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) makes its way through the partisan gridlock of the US congress. AGOA offers duty free access to the richest market on the planet on 1800 tariff lines, generates over 62,000 jobs in South Africa alone, and...

Kenya has emerged third among the top 20 fastest-growing economies in the world, according to a 2015 survey by Bloomberg. Kenya and Nigeria are the only African countries that made it on the list, which placed China first, followed by the Philippines.  However unemployment in Kenya remains high and some industries face a shock unless the U.S. renews a key trade agreement. The sound of this industrial sewing machine fills the air at the United Aryan Limited textiles factory on the outskirts of Nairobi as workers are busy trying to make...

Emboldened by high demands of their mineral resources, African countries are demanding change to AGOA, a US-Africa trade treaty, including its extension for at least 15 years. At fault are the uncertainties of the treaty, and its limiting structures. It may seem counter-intuitive to imagine that Africa could make contractual demands on the United States. Yet, there is evidence that in recent times Africa has become more assertive with a newfound confidence. It appears the continent is at a point in history where it no longer needs the...

For the past fifteen years, South Africa has been taxing poultry imports from the United States. This chicken tax has not been popular among representatives in the U.S. Congress. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware has been particularly vocal, and his opposition was again reported on in a New York Times article two weeks ago. Senator Coons’ concerns are twofold: the tax hampers U.S. poultry exports, one of Delaware’s staple industries. Additionally, the tax is considered unfair given that South Africa receives trade benefits under the...

South Africa had dispatched a delegation to Washington this week to discuss with Congress ways to amicably resolve an impasse over US poultry imports, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said. This dispute was threatening Pretoria’s continued participation in the preferential trade scheme, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), Davies added. Speaking at a BrandSA/ Business Report Dialogue, Davies said he was optimistic South Africa would retain its participation in Agoa. “I am very hopeful,” he said in Johannesburg on...

The African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AOGA, doesn’t expire until Sept. 30, but there’s mounting pressure to extend it immediately since every passing day without renewal brings more ambiguity to companies’ ability to plan ahead. “If it gets passed at the last minute, it causes all kinds of disruptions and uncertainties for buyers and sellers. And so, just the uncertainty alone is damaging,” said Jennifer Cooke, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Africa, in an interview...

Leo Garments is the latest casualty of the AGOA loss as the company has retrenched a bulk of its workforce. An inside source said there are less than half of the initial workers remaining in the factory and they also face further retrenchments. The prevailing situation at the factory situated at the bottom of the Matsapha Industrial Sites, which has left hundreds of workers in despair and uncertainty, is a result of the country’s removal from benefitting from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) with effect from January 2015. The...

The African market, growing at more than 5 percent per year for the last decade, is up for grabs by the major powers, especially China and the European Union. To stay competitive, the U.S. needs to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act, set to expire on Sept. 30, as soon as possible. In 2009, China became Africa’s largest trading partner, overtaking the U.S. Combined with more than $30 billion of low-interest commercial loans to African governments and investments in virtually every country, it is argued by some that China is...

With just over two million inhabitants, the southern African kingdom of Lesotho is one of the world’s smallest countries. A low-income country that currently ranks 160 out of 187 on the UN’s Human Development Index, workers earn an average salary of US$570 per annum and some 42 per cent of its citizens are jobless. However, over the last eight years, its textile and garments manufacturing industry has grown to become one of Africa’s biggest. At its peak in 2008, Lesotho’s garment and textile exports totalled US$340 million. The...

Africa’s main regional trade bloc, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), on Tuesday expressed concerns over its low share of trade with the United States despite the two sides having signed economic development agreements. The COMESA said it was unfortunate that both of its export and import with the U.S. remain low. The value of trade between the two sides was relatively low despite the establishment of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which gives preferential treatment to U.S. imports of certain...

For years now, South Africa has had tariffs in place that effectively force imported chickens out of the market but this exclusion could soon be brought to an end under increasing international pressure, with America recently joining the fray. South Africa’s status within an important trade deal with the US is coming up for review this year and this issue is certain to be a source of dispute. Since 2000, countries in Sub Saharan Africa have been signed up to AGOA – the African Growth and Opportunity Act – a trade deal aimed at...

The suspension of Madagascar’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) privileges following its 2009 coup offers a natural experiment that allows analysts to study the impact of a tariff preference program on the recipient developing country, and then, subsequently, the impact of its removal. The situation provides two distinct but comparable states:  One with preferential access (2001-2009—the “AGOA years”) and the other without (2009-2014—the “sanction years”).  Using readily available bilateral trade data from...

One of the factors responsible for Africa’s improved trading over the past decade has been the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a piece of legislation that was approved by the U.S Congress in May 2000. It was granted to assist the economies of sub-Saharan Africa grow economic relations with the world’s greatest economy. The act facilitates duty-free entry into the U.S for certain goods, and the result had been an expanded access mostly for textile and apparel goods and a surge in foreign exchange earnings. It was initially...

The 40,000 chickens — a few short weeks from becoming Valu-Paks at the supermarket — scratched their way toward the rows of water drips, eager for a little midday sip. Eyeing an open door, one bird made a vague attempt to wander away, before it was gently returned to the brood. Such prancing poultry rests at the center of a major trade dispute between the United States and South Africa, with large economic stakes, especially in states like Delaware, the birthplace of the American chicken industry. For decades, in addition to chemicals...

Time is running out to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act. If the renewal process is delayed to AGOA’s expiration date of September 30 of this year, it will undermine much of what the legislation has achieved, especially in the apparel sector. Apparel and footwear companies are the largest supporters of the several hundred thousand direct jobs that AGOA has created in Africa—not to mention the many more indirect jobs. Though, with the uncertainty surrounding the renewal of AGOA as well as the now-crunched timeline, these...

President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday said South Africa's delegation to Washington DC for the US-Africa Leaders' Summit, held in August last year, was essential for drawing investment into Africa.   The summit had focused on trade, investment, development, peace and regional stability.   President Zuma said the summit was also beneficial for the future generation of leaders, as it dealt with matters of good governance, youth development and service delivery.   The President said this in written replies to Parliamentary questions....

The value of Kenya's exports to United States increased by nearly a third in the first 11 months of 2014, rendering the US her second most important market after Uganda. Latest official data show the US bought goods worth Sh35.53 billion by November, 28.5 per cent higher than the Sh27.64 billion raked in over a similar period in 2013. The US is catching up fast with Uganda, the biggest buyer of Kenyan goods, but whose purchases over the period slumped by 11.4 per cent to Sh43.31 billion, from Sh48.87 billion in the previous year. USA has...

Ethiopia's Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Girma Birru, has welcomed the decision of the US Department of Commerce to organize a "Business Development Conference and Trade Mission" to 8 African countries in September 2015". He said the Trade Mission would offer a unique opportunity to explore, first-hand, the vast business and investment opportunities that exist in Africa in the various areas. Ambassador Girma noted the recent economic performance of the East African region has been remarkable by international standards. The...

“We’re running out of time,” moderator Witney Schneidman, nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution, exclaimed as he opened the January 28 panel discussion at last week’s Africa Policy Breakfast entitled AGOA Today and Beyond: The Future of the US-Africa Commercial Relationship.  While AGOA technically expires this September, for many African companies exporting apparel to the United States there is less than two months left in the nine month U.S. supply cycle.  For U.S. importers, the fact that AGOA is not yet...

For the apparel and footwear industry, timing is everything. Our executives plan production and place orders months, and sometimes years, in advance so goods will make it to stores in time for the next season. Understanding and managing long lead times are critical. For our supply chains, “seamless” processes require that decisions be set months in advance. Unfortunately, when it comes to legislation, Washington’s definition of “seamless” does not line up. Case in point – the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Policy...