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What we know and don't know about trade with Africa

On September 30, United States Trade Representative Michael Froman wrote a letter to Irving Williamson, chairman of the International Trade Commission, regarding the African Growth and Opportunity Act. In the letter, Froman requested that the International Trade Commission conduct four investigations and provide four reports related to AGOA and our trade relationship with Africa. The results will likely bring sanity to our approach to trade with Africa, and it may very well force changes in how we develop future trade agreements and policy...

18 November 2013 | STEPHEN HAYES

Nigeria yet to benefit from AGOA, says envoy

Nigerian Consul-General to Atlanta, US, Mr Geoffery Teneilabe,  on Thursday said that Nigeria had not benefited enough from the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) programme.  Teneilabe stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.  He said that contrary to the spirit of the programme, the US Government had not been encouraging import of non-oil commodities from Nigeria.  NAN recalls that AGOA was enacted to encourage  countries in assist sub-Saharan Africa to export garments...

15 November 2013

Ghana cuts down trade balance with US to $484m with high exports in 2013

The trade balance between Ghana and the United States fell to $484.7 million in the first eight months of 2013, official US data has shown. This is compared to $670.8 million trade balance both countries recorded during the same period (January-August) in 2012, according to the US Department of Commerce. The reduction was due low American exports and a rise in Ghanaian exports during the period. The US exported goods worth $747.5 million during the 2013 period to Ghana compared to what it did $901.7 million in 2012. The US Commerce...

13 November 2013 | Ekow Quandzie

Ambassadors briefed on President Obama's Power Africa initiative

Ethiopia's Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Girma Birru, has chaired a meeting of the African Ambassadors AGOA Group, to discuss President Obama's Power Africa, his initiative to double access to power in sub-Saharan Africa. Ambassador Girma, the Co-Chair of the AGOA Group, underlined the importance of the initiative considering more than two-thirds of the population of sub-Saharan Africa is currently without electricity, and more than 85 % of those living in rural areas lack access to power. He noted that the US has now pledged...

08 November 2013

Ghana: 'Blue Skies' fruit exports to hit American market

The United States Mission in Ghana is putting finishing touches to a pact with local fruit processing company to start exporting fresh cuts to the US market. Blue Skies, which already exports to the European Union, has a 'low hanging fruit' scenario to start exporting cut fresh fruits such as pineapples, mangoes and papaya to United States under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which Ghana is yet to take full advantage of. Although the provision has been available post-2000 under which Ghana and 38 other African countries can...

06 November 2013

US groups lobby for extension of AGOA

US industry groups active in the textiles and apparel sectors have made a plea for the US government to extend the provisions of the American Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), in terms of which African states including SA are given preferential access to US markets. The groups said Agoa had to be renewed as soon as possible, warning that any delay into 2015 would result in the loss of trade and jobs in both African and US markets. Agoa was signed into law in 2000 and originally covered the eight-year period from October 2000 to September...

30 October 2013 | BEKEZELA PHAKATHI

Why Congress should extend AGOA now

Over two years ago at the AGOA forum in Zambia, then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton committed the Obama administration to a "seamless renewal" of AGOA, the cornerstone of the U.S.-African commercial relationship. However, AGOA's extension has become needlessly protracted and increasingly uncertain, notwithstanding the current political dysfunction in Washington. To ensure that AGOA does not expire on September 31, 2015, as currently scheduled, the administration and Congress should work together to extend the legislation...

21 October 2013 | WITNEY SCHNEIDMAN

US & African companies call for immediate renewal of AGOA

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) plays a vital role in the development and support of a competitive US-African textile and apparel trade partnership, a critical step to developing a broader reciprocal commercial relationship with AGOA countries. AGOA has created more than 300,000 direct jobs in Africa, and AGOA imports are important for the millions of American workers in apparel retailing, manufacturing and importing companies. Originally enacted in 2000, AGOA has enjoyed widespread bipartisan support and has been modified...

18 October 2013

President Obama and Africa: Still a work in progress

Barack Obama’s election five years ago sparked audacious hopes in people around the globe — but nowhere did it stoke such outsized expectations as in Africa, where his appearance at Nelson Mandela’s memorial Tuesday drew some of the event’s biggest cheers. Many Africans thought the election of the first African-American president of the United States would herald a new era of U.S. relations with the continent, one marked by intensified economic ties, high-level diplomatic interaction and visits by the newly installed chief executive...

12 October 2013 | Josh Gerstein

US firms lobby for South Africa to stay in AGOA

The South African chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham South Africa) has joined in the lobbying for South Africa to be included in the next round of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), which is set to expire in 2015. There have been talks in Washington as to whether South Africa should be included in the next round of Agoa should its extension be approved by Congress. South Africa’s continued participation is being questioned, as it is no longer deemed a poor country but a middle-income economy. President of...

02 October 2013 | MAX GEBHARDT

US publishes new annual limit on AGOA apparel imports

The United States has set new limits on duty and quota-free imports of apparel articles from sub-Saharan African countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).  For apparel articles wholly assembled in one or more beneficiary sub-Saharan African country from regional and third-country fabric, the limit is now set at 1,784,195,681 square metres equivalent (SME) for fiscal 2014, which runs from 1 October 2013 to 30 September 2014. Of this amount, 892,097,841 SME is available to apparel articles imported under the special...

30 September 2013

Voice of business: Valid reasons to continue AGOA

Side by side with critical investment drivers such as competitiveness, political stability, transparency of the regulatory environment and ease of doing business, market size and access remains a huge investment determinant. Following the country’s re-entry into the global economic arena, South Africa has over the past 19 years forged some plausible mutually beneficial trade agreements with various countries and regional economic blocs around the world. Then came the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), a US unilateral trade...

29 September 2013 | NOMAXABISO MAJOKWENI

American Chamber to lobby for AGOA extension

The American Chamber of  Commerce in Zambia is planning to partner with the Zambian business community to lobby for extension of the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) which expires in 2015. Chamber executive director John Payne said AGOA was important for the strengthening of business engagements for both  Zambia and  the United States (US) hence,  the need to extend it. Mr Payne said the organisation would use the meeting with the incoming US ambassador to Zambia as an opportunity to push for the extension of...

26 September 2013 | KENNEDY MUPESENI

US and Sub-Saharan Africa will see increased trade growth, says DHL

DHL Express, the world's leading courier and express company, believes that trade between the United States of America and Sub-Saharan Africa is set for continued growth, as both regions build upon the recent U.S. Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) to achieve sustainable development through increased trade and investment. "We have already seen this increased trade in specific countries on the continent, as they take advantage of preferential trade agreements and state-led policy change to increase exports and imports with the U.S.," says...

25 September 2013

South Africa: AGOA - more critical than ever to both African and US economies

A full agenda of dialogues with US Congress, US business and the US administration has been prepared for South Africa's Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies as his department starts South Africa's lobbying effort for the seamless renewal of the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA). Minister Davies and his senior aides traveled to the US last week to cajole the US congress and other thought leaders of the importance of US - Africa economic relations as well as to argue South Africa's case for an unfettered renewal of AGOA. Davies'...

23 September 2013 | MFUNDO HLATSHWAYO

Zambia: Government, stakeholders' AGOA review timely

Government's initiative to engage the Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) and other stakeholders to review the country's performance under the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) duty-free export market, underscores the importance it attaches to the development of the manufacturing industry. Its concern emanates from Zambia's failure to export products to the lucrative US market despite the numerous incentives offered under the AGOA facility. This comes on the heels of a recent report by the Hub Digest, a publication of a US...

12 September 2013

Nigeria: Firm targets 3,000 textiles, garment workers

Sam and Sara (Omoluabi) Garment Factory has hinted of plans to employ about 3,000 workers from the textile and garment industry. Disclosing this to The Nation, the Managing Director of the company, Mrs. Folake Oyemade, said going by the company’s expansion plan, about 3, 000 workers are expected to join its workforce, adding that this is in line with the government transformation agenda. She commended the Osun State government and Bank of Industry for their support in driving the initiative and creating an enabling environment for the...

09 September 2013

AGOA review focuses on need for 2015 update

With the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) set to expire in September 2015, African and US representatives have begun to explore how Washington can improve and renew the 13-year old legislation so that it is more compatible with the changing economic landscape in Africa. AGOA provides about 6500 African products with preferential quota and duty-free access to the US market. The bill expands upon the US Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), a set of formal exceptions from the WTO’s most-favoured nation (MFN) principle that...

05 September 2013

Nigeria: Partnering to enlighten local SMEs on export compliance issues

In furtherance of its commitment to develop local productive capacity and encourage export of Nigerian made products, the Bank of Industry (BoI) has partnered the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on free training of local producers on the specifics of regulatory requirements for exports to America under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). AGOA was signed into law on May 18, 2000 as Title 1 of The Trade and Development Act of 2000. The Act offers tangible incentives for African countries to...

05 September 2013
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