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Source Africa, the Textile, Apparel and Footwear trade event is taking place on Thursday 19 June & Friday 20 June at the Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC) and will bring together African manufacturers from across the continent with regional and international buyers. The annual event is the most important annual pan-African textile, clothing and footwear trade event on the international calendar, encouraging links between buyers, manufacturers and suppliers, supporting investment into manufacturing capacity in Africa and...

The threat of Swaziland being suspended from a US preferential trade agreement for poor progress in meeting democratic norms is threatening the livelihoods of tens of thousands of worker in a country where unemployment is already above 40 percent.   The 2000 African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) offers developing countries duty-free access to some US markets, with the strict proviso that their governments show progress on enhancing democracy and human rights and upholding fair labour practices.    AGOA and the...

The Africa-America Institute (AAI) hosted its first Conversations on Africa panel titled “AGOA 2015: Positioning Renewal to Ensure Better Human Capacity Training.” AFKInsider attended the Capital Hill event, which aimed to pinpoint the necessity of an extension, while examining what has worked and what hasn’t. Panel moderator, Kamran Khan — VP of the Department of Compact Operations and the Millennium Challenge Corporation — summarized the purpose of extending AGOA best. Honoring continued trade from the continent would be...

Apparel and footwear – but especially footwear – are among the US industries that have benefited most from the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Now that AGOA is about to expire, stakeholders want the law renewed in a hurry. They’re meeting today in Washington, D.C. to talk about it ahead of Barack Obama’s U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in August. AGOA, which is up for renewal in 2015, allows products made in Africa with African textiles to come into the U.S. duty-free. Signed into law in 2000, it was enacted...

What impact do you think that AGOA has had on South African Trade relations? I think that trade relations between the US and South Africa is largely driven by AGOA at this point. We have exports from the US to South Africa that is worth 7 billion dollars. We export 8.7 billion dollars’ worth of goods largely through AGOA so we actually have a trade surplus with the Unites States. If we were to look at the 2010 figures, we have seen an 11% growth in jobs in South Africa because we export to AGOA and in manufacturing GDP we have seen a...

Director-General, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) Dr John Osemede, said Nigeria was yet to maximise opportunities in the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA). Osemede, who said this in Lagos, added that Nigeria had not benefitted from existing trade agreements with other countries due to its infrastructural deficit and lack of protection for local industries. According to him, majority of Nigerian non-oil exports have been rejected because they have failed to meet required...

The government has stressed its resolve to continue creating enabling environment for investors in the country as a requisite for sustainable development. Speaking at the fifth anniversary since the establishment of Mazava Fabrics Produce, the Deputy Minister for Industries and Trade, Ms Janeth Mbene said that investment and especially manufacturing sub sector was one of the government's priorities. Mazava Fabrics Produce licenced in Tanzania by the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) is part of the Winds Group. The Morogoro based...

The Security Industry Association (SIA) has added its voice to security organizations protesting a bill in South Africa that would ban foreign ownership of security firms. On May 28, SIA wrote a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman and ranking member respectively of the Senate Finance Committee, to suggest putting pressure on South Africa through amendments to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) if the South African bill were to become law. Originally enacted in 2000, AGOA allows products from...

Swaziland's Prime minister Sibusiso Dlamini says the country is attending to all five recommendations made by the USA. The premier, said the country was attending to all five recommendations made by the Americans so that the country could be eligible for AGOA. “We are attending to all the recommendations made by the Americans. On the other hand, we are also waiting for their response on where the country stands. “Remember, we informed them on what we were doing; so, we are waiting for their response,” Dlamini said. AGOA is a US...

United States Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker wants Ethiopia and other African countries to make the best out of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), as the lifespan of the legislation is set to expire next year. AGOA allows 6,400 products from eligible Sub-Saharan African countries to enter the United States duty free. In 2013, according to US Department of Commerce, United States imports under AGOA totaled $26.8 billion. "One of the ways the United States can serve as a partner in Ethiopia's growth and development is...

Swaziland's Minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Dumisani Ndlangamandla has made the strongest possible statement yet regarding the much-publicised issue of AGOA, saying the United States of America (USA) must not use AGOA to "bully" Swaziland.  In his own words, Ndlandlamandla said: “America must not use their powers to suppress the country just because we do not have money.” He was speaking during his tour of the MTN headquarters, christened Mahlalekhukhwini House, in Ezulwini yesterday. The minister, who...

United States Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker over the weekend rounded off her visit to Africa in Ethiopia, where she said US companies were looking for business opportunities across the continent. "My trip was to discuss US commitment to Africa and what we can do to spur trade and investment in Ethiopia. President Barack Obama sees tremendous opportunities for trade and investment in Ethiopia,” Pritzker told reporters in Addis Ababa. US companies are seeking opportunities to invest in Africa’s aviation, construction, health,...

Earlier this week, the United States was expected to make an announcement regarding duty-free export access under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for Swaziland. News reports indicated that access was rescinded, yet this week others have indicated that official statements have not yet been made. If Swaziland is made ineligible for AGOA, the Swaziland economy is expected to be severely injured. The small country’s exports to the U.S. have averaged over $100 million a year since the beginning of AGOA, mostly in the apparel...

Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-Calif.) announced today that she would join U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and 20 American companies, including two California companies, on an Energy Business Development trade mission to Nigeria. The California firms joining the mission are SolarReserve from Santa Monica and EEC from Burlingame. Following the trade mission, Congresswoman Bass and Secretary Pritzker will travel to Ethiopia to promote the renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The purpose of the trip will be to...

The Government in collaboration with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has put in place a committee which will look at ways and means of increasing exports to the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) market in the United States of America(USA). Commerce Trade and Industry Minister Bob Sichinga said there were a number of issues that needed to be addressed such as the Phytosanitary and sanitary measures. Mr Sichinga said that was the more reason Government had decided to undertake a study on what impact the Economic...

There is confusion surrounding the United States' announcement on the future of Swaziland's status under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA). On Friday (16 May 2014) the AFP news agency reported Makila James, the US Ambassador to Swaziland, saying the kingdom had lost its status because it failed to meet five conditions relating to workers' and human rights. Swaziland had been given until 15 May 2014 to comply or risk losing AGOA status, which allows Swazi goods to be sold in the United States under preferential terms. But,...

The US Embassy in Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland, has postponed a press conference, which was widely believed to have been called to make an official announcement about the status of Swaziland under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) from January 2015 onwards, reports Swazi Observer. Swaziland, a land-locked country surrounded by Mozambique and South Africa, had failed to meet the required criteria of Human Rights by the May 15, 2014, deadline given by the US administration. Subsequently, Makila James, the US Ambassador to...

Economists are crying foul at the way government is handling the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). AGOA is trade benefits that allow Swaziland to export a significant amount of its textile and clothing products to the US duty-free.  Speaking anonymously, three economists concurred that the repercussions of losing these trade benefits will yield dire consequences for the country.  *Nhlanhla Dlamini, an economist working in a government parastatal, said the loss of the benefit spells doom for a lot of the workers in...

LEO Garments has confirmed that it will have to close down and render 800 people jobless in the process should Swaziland lose its AGOA eligibility status tomorrow, which is the deadline for government to avert the impending scenario. Leo Garments is a textile company based in the industrial town of Matsapha and totally reliant on the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) programme for its operations. There are at least 17 289 people employed by the textile companies and all these could lose their jobs should the kingdom lose its AGOA...

The federal government has said that it is partnering the United States Government to boost the export of Nigerian products to the United States of America under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, said this during the World Economic Forum on Africa, 2014 Small and Medium Enterprises Summit in Abuja. Aganga also said that his ministry was working on a new AGOA strategy that would help boost the export of Nigerian products to the United States’ market. He...

This week, a majority of Swazi citizens will be holding their breath as the United States of America decides whether to keep Swaziland as a beneficiary of the AGOA programme. Should the USA pull the plug on Swaziland, the kingdom will, from January 2015, no longer enjoy importing goods into America under duty-free conditions. Swaziland will be left with until December 2014 to benefit from the African Growth and Opportunities Act. However, US Ambassador to Swaziland Makila James, in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, told the Sunday...

Workers' unions are perturbed by government’s silence as only five working days now remain before the country loses its eligibility to AGOA. They are worried that there are no signs or anything giving hope from government concerning the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), yet the deadline is on May 15 (Thursday). AGOA provides trade preferences for quota and duty-free entry for specific African products into the United States market. Losing or renewing eligibility will surely depend on whether government has played its part in...