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East Africa: US asks region to jointly market AGOA
The US has urged East Africa to jointly market the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) following the slow response to the initiative. The remarks come on the back of requests from Sub-Saharan Africa asking for the extension of the Agoa initiative from 2015 to 2025 to enable countries benefit from the duty free and quota free access to the US market.Ms Florizelle Liser, the assistant US trade representative for Africa who led a delegation of trade representatives to Uganda, said East Africa should form the East Africa Trade Treaty that...
The AGOA problem: Africa's hidden secret
For the last seven years in my travels across the African continent, I try to pay attention and listen to what things are troubling some African businesses and traders in retail and exports. AGOA is the one word that keeps coming up with excessive groans. In English and French, small African traders are complaining about it.Created by the Clinton Administration, "the African Growth and Opportunity Act (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...
Uganda needs government support on AGOA initiative
Eleven years since the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), an initiative that allows duty free and quarter free access to the US from sub Saharan African countries, was signed into place, most African countries are yet to reap the fruits of the initiative.Uganda, one of the East African Community (EAC) state, has not been an exception. It is among the countries that have performed poorly under AGOA.Countries that are performing well like Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Mauritius, have full backing of their...
US, Africa consult on reviewing AGOA for increased benefits
IN 2010, Zambia took over the chair of the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Zambian Ambassador to the United States Sheila Siwela was appointed co-chairperson of the Economic Development Committee of the African Diplomatic Corps in Washington DC, teaming up with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Lesotho Ambassador David Rantekoa.The major responsibilities of the co-chairs were to engage the US government and congress on the improvement and review of AGOA trade preferences on behalf of and for the benefit of all AGOA eligible...
US launches trade talks with East African Community (EAC)
The United States launched exploratory discussions during a November 4 meeting with the East African Community (EAC) in Arusha on a potential new trade and investment partnership. Alfonso Lenhardt, the U.S. ambassador to Tanzania, who is also accredited as the U.S. ambassador to the EAC, opened the meeting. Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for African Affairs Florie Liser led an interagency team of representatives from the departments of State, Commerce and Agriculture, as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in...
US asks East Africa to jointly market AGOA
The US has urged East Africa to jointly market the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) following the slow response to the initiative.The remarks come on the back of requests from Sub-Saharan Africa asking for the extension of the Agoa initiative from 2015 to 2025 to enable countries benefit from the duty free and quota free access to the US market.Ms Florizelle Liser, the assistant US trade representative for Africa who led a delegation of trade representatives to Uganda, said East Africa should form the East Africa Trade Treaty that...
Where incentives mean more clothing jobs
There is good reason to try to keep the South African textile and clothing industry going because it could create many more jobs, raise skills levels and eventually pay better than survival wages.But there are lessons to be learned from Lesotho and Mauritius, whose clothing industries have grown in recent years -- in sharp contrast to the steep decline in the South African industry.A major difference between South Africa, on the one hand, and Lesotho and Mauritius, on the other, is that piecework and productivity incentives, outlawed in...
Press Release: United States and East African Community launch discussions on new trade and investment initiative
Arusha, Tanzania – Today, the United States launched exploratory discussions during a meeting with the East African Community (EAC) in Arusha on a potential new trade and investment partnership. Ambassador Alfonso Lenhardt, the U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania who is also accredited as the U.S. Ambassador to the EAC, opened the meeting. Assistant United States Trade Representative for African Affairs, Florie Liser, led an interagency team of representatives from the Departments of State, Commerce, and Agriculture, as well as the United States...
Lesotho: Government to turn its back on textile industry (Report)
Lesotho’s textile sector – the country’s largest employer - is regarded by many as the only way out of the poverty trap in a tiny kingdom where more than half of the population lives on less than 1.25 dollars a day. But what many do not know is that the government and the World Bank have unofficially turned their backs on the sector and will soon cut important subsidies.Makhoase Lethibelane, 30, works 10 long hours each day as a label printer at the Shinning Century Limited textile factory in Lesotho’s capital Maseru. Her work is...
Awaiting further action on AGOA from Obama
President Obama issued a press release on October 25, 2011 where he announced the trade benefits of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) would be restored to Ivory Coast, Guinea and Niger. Each country had previously been deemed ineligible—Ivory Coast in 2005 amidst the country’s political turmoil; Niger in 2009 after the president extended his term against the country’s constitution; and Guinea in 2010 after a coup. Over the course of this year, all three countries hosted elections that were considered free and fair, which...
USTR praises restored trade preferences for three African nations
The United States is proud to announce the restoration of trade preferences and other benefits to Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea and Niger under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk says.In a statement issued October 25 after President Obama signed a proclamation restoring trade preferences, Kirk said AGOA "remains a vital and growing pillar of U.S.-Africa trade policy."Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea and Niger had lost their eligibility for AGOA benefits due to undemocratic changes in government, but in...
Zambia: Gemstone industrial park to create 30,000 jobs, AGOA exports forecast
Over US$10 million has been spent on infrastructure development at the Ndola-based Sub-Sahara Gemstone Exchange Industrial Park which is expected to create about 30,000 jobs in the next five years.The industrial park is a multi-function economic development zone aimed at accelerating economic growth through business activities and employment creation.Sub-Sahara Gemstone Exchange Industrial park president Phesto Musonda said contractors are currently on site to work on the road network while Zesco Limited and Copper belt Energy Corporation...
Text of presidential proclamation regarding Niger, Guinea and Ivory Coast gaining AGOA preferences
Presidential Proclamation-African Growth and Opportunity Act BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Section 506A(a) (1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the "1974 Act") (19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(1)), as added by section 111(a) of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (title I of Public Law 106-200) (AGOA), authorizes the President to designate a country listed in section 107 of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3706) as a "beneficiary sub-Saharan African country" if the President determines that the country meets the...
Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea and Niger proclaimed AGOA eligible
US President Barack Obama restored privileged US trade partner status Tuesday to Ivory Coast, Niger and Guinea following democratic gains in the African countries, the White House said.Obama announced his decision after the annual review of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, which allocates trade preferences and other benefits to certain African countries based on democratic advances or setbacks."Today, the President signed a proclamation which restores trade preferences and other benefits to Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger under the...
Statement by USTR Ron Kirk on restoring AGOA to Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea and Niger
Today, United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk commented after President Obama signed a proclamation restoring trade preferences and other benefits to Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea and Niger under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea and Niger had previously lost their eligibility for AGOA benefits due to undemocratic changes in government. In late 2010 and early 2011, all three countries conducted Presidential elections that were considered free and fair.“President Obama’s determination and proclamation...
Lobbies push for extension of fabric exports to US
Influential American business lobby groups have launched a fresh bid to have the US Congress extend a rule that allows for duty-free importation of African garments made from imported inputs.The third country fabric rule of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) will lapse in September next year, locking out the bulk of textile imports from eligible African states such as Kenya.The American business group calling itself “Supporters of Africa Trade in Washington” said the timing for its campaign was necessary to ensure that the...
Textiles: Nigeria’s dying goldmine
The Nigerian textile industry, which was once a vibrant sector of the Nigerian economy, is gradually grinding to a halt. Despite government promises to revitalise the sector that holds numerous potentials for the economy, not much has happened. Nigerians who are not aware of the forces that have brought the once flourishing industry to its knees are wondering what might have struck the sector. Fred Itua examines the factors behind the rot in the industry. In any developed or developing economy, the indices used in judging growth is...
Business groups call for AGOA expansion
The US Chamber of Commerce and more than a half dozen American Chambers in Africa are urging the US government to take steps to increase exports to the African region.Among the measures called for are an extension and expansion of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is currently due to expire in 2015.Arguing that the US needs to find new markets to sell its goods and services if it is to meet the president's goal of doubling exports over the next five years, the Chambers point out that Africa represents many of the world's...
Ugandan coffee firm eyes AGOA market
A Ugandan coffee firm with active markets in the United Kingdom, Uganda and South Africa, is now eying the lucrative African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) market. Good African Coffee, which operates a modern roasting, processing and packaging facility, believes that it is time for Africans to process and market their own products globally and use trade as a means to bring about the sustainable development so desperately needed by the farmers and communities. But despite its ambitious plans, Good African like any other enterprising...
Namibia: Geingob leads SME team to USA
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Hage Geingob, has led a small team of Namibian SMEs and youth leaders on a trade and investment mission to the US. First the Minister and delegation attended the US-Africa Business Summit organised by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) in Washington DC from October 4 to 7. The CCA is a US-based business association and holds this forum on an annual basis. During the forum Geingob participated in a panel discussion on Intellectual Property Rights and Indigenous Knowledge for Foreign Direct...
AGOA in top gear
The African Growth and Opportunity Act is an initiative by the United States Congress to open up US markets to eligible sub-Saharan African countriesExport opportunities for African countries have always been few and far between, particularly to first-world countries. But in 2000, the US government signed into law the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), aimed at liberalising trade and assisting the growth and development of sub-Saharan African countries, through duty-free and quota-free access of a broad range of products into the US....
Pro Bono: Ethics in whole cloth
Celebrity activist Bono and his wife recently launched the spring 2012 collection of their Edun fashion label, and talked about fashion, African trade and those omnipresent sunglasses. David Lipke has the story.Ali Hewson and husband Bono celebrated Edun's spring women's show and the launch of the men's "Pioneers Project" marketing campaign recently. In between courses of crab cakes and mac 'n' greens, they shared their philosophy on how the catwalk can be a platform for fair trade."It's strange to hear an activist like me say that, but Edun...
Nigeria-America trade volume hits $34.6bn
The volume of trade between Nigeria and the United States of America (USA) has hit N34.6 billion in 2010, THISDAY has learnt.The National President, Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), Mr. Sam Ohuabunwa, who made the statement at the recent 51st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the chamber in Lagos.He said this bilateral trade volume represents a 25 per cent increase over the 2009 figure.He said Nigeria and the US have continued to be strong economic partners especially after the meeting with United States President, Barrack Obama...
Ghanaian women participate in African Women Entrepreneurship programme
Two Ghanaian women entrepreneurs joined their counterparts from all over the world to participate in the African Women Entrepreneurship programme underway in the United States of America. The three-week programme seeks to provide the African women entrepreneurs professional development training and networking opportunities with their American counterparts from civil society, corporations, industry associations, non-profit organisations, and business alliances. A statement issued by the Public Affairs Section of United States Embassy in...
USTR Ron Kirk applauds Senate passage of key trade programs
United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk today applauded Senate passage of legislation renewing the expired Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program and also renewing key Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) reforms. GSP promotes economic growth in the developing world and benefits American importers and consumers by providing duty-free entry for thousands of products from developing countries. TAA provides training and support to help workers, firms, farmers and fishermen transition to alternative employment if their jobs are...
Gambia AGOA resource centre opens today
The US Embassy in Banjul, in collaboration with the Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment will today officially launch the Gambia AGOA Resource Centre.The launching ceremony will be held at the American Corner within the Comium Building along Kairaba Avenue. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been designed to encourage increased trade and investment-related opportunities between the United States and eligible countries within Africa as a...
Kenya: Shivers ahead of AGOA (textile) deadline
The apparel and textile sub-sectors are fearful of the September 2012 deadline by which they should source raw materials locally.Matters are not made any better by America's silence on pleas for extension of the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act provisions related to the industry.African states, including Kenya are expected to comply with the provisions of Agoa IV, which require that they source raw materials from within or from other developing countries. They want this provision extended to 2015 to enable the struggling cotton industry...
Issues slow recovery of Kenya's cotton industry
Real estate agents usually handle property sales for other people. But ten years ago David Masika, an agent in Kenya, bought a cotton mill for himself.The mill was Makueni Ginneries in Eastern province. It was operating with technology from the nineteen sixties. It produced only two hundred kilos of cotton in its first year under new ownership.Last year Makueni Ginneries sold six hundred thousand kilos, or about one thousand bales. It made its first profit since Mr. Masika bought it.Business is good -- world prices for cotton are up. But...
Zamibia: Be proactive, local entrepreneurs told
The Private Sector Development Association (PSDA) has urged local entrepreneurs to be proactive if they are to penetrate the United States (US) market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).PSDA chairperson Yusuf Dodia said AGOA has presented a number of opportunities for Zambian entrepreneurs but it is up to them to produce products that will meet the US standards.Mr Dodia said the AGOA Forum which was held in June was an opportunity for local entrepreneurs to share ideas with the US business delegation on how best they can...
Does the space for industrialisation exist for Namibia?
In 2004 Namibia adopted Vision 2030 as its roadmap for the industrialisation of our country. The Vision envisages that Namibia shall be developed by her own human resources. We are in the seventh year in the implementation. Yet, we do not, as a nation, have a concrete roadmap for industrialisation. At the same time the global trading system is fast changing. The rules of the WTO; the emerging patterns of international trade, for example, the rise of global value chains and marketing networks of multi-nationals; and bilateral and regional...
Botswana: Ignorance of AGOA hurts Ngami weavers
Despite the existence of established trade access to the US under AGOA, basket weavers in Ngamiland - ignorant of the lucrative market in the world's biggest economy - say they are struggling to move their renowned products.The women basket weavers, whose artistry has put Botswana on the map internationally, have expressed ignorance of AGOA's provisions, while bemoaning the slow death of their businesses.Ironically, Americans have one of the biggest appetites for local baskets and other Setswana cultural products, meaning AGOA would be a...
Challenges slow Kenyan cotton industry's rebound
Kenya’s fledgling cotton industry has been picking up in recent months with a spike in world prices for cotton. But the once-flourishing business still has a lot of obstacles to overcome to increase the country’s cotton supply and modernize its cotton mills, or "ginneries." Business is brisk at Makueni Ginneries in Kenya’s Eastern province. But it wasn’t always this way.Real estate agent David Masika purchased Makueni Ginneries 10 years ago. In the first year of operation, he sold 200 kilos of cotton. Last year - for the first time...
Africa: Killing growth with the best of intentions
As Congress continues to drag its collective feet in passing three long-delayed Free Trade Agreements, as well as the long-overdue renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), it is clear that international trade policy is one realm where numbers and politics rarely mix well.When adding the morally-loaded, ambiguous term "poverty reduction" to an already adversarial mix, the righteous drive to do good can sometimes blind us to faulty logic and oversimplification.The ongoing conversation over extending Duty-Free Quota-Free (DFQF)...
More RSA citrus regions could gain US access
Citrus growers in the northern areas of South Africa are hopeful that they will soon be able to export their fruit to the United States Some of the regions in the northern part of South Africa, which have been excluded from shipping their citrus fruit to the US in the past because they have been classified as black spot regions, are hopeful that the country's authorities will lift these restrictions soon. The optimism stems from reports in the US that authorities will have to make concessions with relation to areas where black spot is...
SA's ambassador Rasool expresses hope US will retain trade-preference law
The South African ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool , says there is every reason for the US to continue extending trade preferences to African countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, known as Agoa.Mr Rasool was on hand to welcome the ship Sea Phoenix at the Holt Marine Terminals in Gloucester City, New Jersey, on Tuesday afternoon when it unloaded a large shipment of South African citrus.SA’s Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum is certified under Agoa to export citrus to the US. This week’s shipment consisted of 24000...
Zambia: Honey council in equipment boost
The Zambia Honey Council (ZHC) has received honey processing equipment aimed at boosting trade and improving quality of the products by Zambian beekeepers under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).This follows an agreement which was signed between the ZHC and United States (US)-based Mann-Lake Limited during the AGOA conference in Lusaka in June.ZHC Business Development Manger MacDonald Kayuna said the equipment would facilitate increased and improved honey production in the country.He said the equipment was being used as a pilot...
South African ambassador showcases importance of summer citrus to US
South Africa's Ambassador to the U.S., the Honorable Ebrahim Rasool and the Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum (WCCPF) today hosted members of Congress and their representatives, and other partners in the import business. The purpose of the event was to highlight the importance of South African Summer Citrus and how expanded trade between Africa and the U.S. benefits the regional and broader U.S. economy. (www.summercitrus.com and www.facebook.com/summercitrus) "This is an exciting moment for us," said Gerrit van der Merwe, chairman of the...
AGOA Forum 2011 - the next step
During a trip to Lusaka for the 2011 (AGOA) African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum, which was held from June 8 - 10, 2011, US Trade Representative, Secretary of State Ambassador Ron Kirk described the Lusaka Forum as "one of the most productive forums ever held on the African continent in the recent past." The statement was also endorsed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during the official closing.In separate interviews, the President of the Corporate Council on Africa Steve Hayes and his Vice President Tim McCoy described the...
Zambia: FDA addressing supply, value chains under AGOA
The Foundation for Democracy in Africa (FDA) is working with selected African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) eligible countries to address the supply and value chain constraints.The organisation will also assist eligible countries to develop distribution networks.FDA executive director Anthony Okonmah said his organsiation was working with AGOA eligible countries to implement the recommendation made by the AGOA Civil Society in June during the forum in Lusaka.“We are working with select AGOA eligible countries to implement the...
50 years later: Where did Africa go wrong?
The power and efficacy of a popular engagement by a people in strategic self-development, though quite challenging and requiring enormous resources and sacrifice, is not as dependent on material capital as we Africans have constantly been told and have come to believe.In being so persuaded to believe otherwise, our very knowledge of our relative deficit in capital has come to serve as more of a tool for psychological self-handicapping, given especially the fact that we have been castigated ceaselessly by this and similar 'facts' ad nauseum,...
US: AGOA apparel extension proposed
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) should have its third-country fabric provision extended to improve economic opportunities in the textile and apparel sector, according to a US Congressman.Democrat Jim McDermott, who authored legislation establishing and refining AGOA, said the extension was a “critical component of the continued success of the law”, and called for AGOA to be updated to include the new Republic of South Sudan.Passage of the bill, which is supported by the Obama administration, would align the third-country...
South Sudan: Country may be included in AGOA Bill
A Bill to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) provisions on third-country fabric and on the inclusion of Africa's youngest country, South Sudan, has been introduced in the United States (US) Congress. [Note: copy of legislation is available here on AGOA.info at the following LINK] If passed, the amendments would extend the current provision on the third country clause on textile products which is scheduled to expire in September 2012 to 2015 when AGOA expires. The legislation which was presented to the Congress on July...
Kenya Power resorts to rationing
Kenya has activated a power-rationing programme that might hurt industry and small service providers already battered by high energy and commodity prices.Power generator KenGen and independent power producers are not supplying enough electricity to make up for cuts caused by breakdowns and regular maintenance.Those likely to see their trade income cut include manufacturers, owners of cybercafÈs, small retailers, barbershops and salons.Kenyans are also praying that the water levels in the dams do not drop further as this would make the...
Kenya: Farmers embrace cottage industry to maximise earnings from cotton
In a crafts-room at Ahero Teacher’s Training College in Kisumu County, Rose Arianda sits on her spinning wheel threading a long piece of string from the mass of cotton balls around her feet as she hums along the rhythm of the wheel.All around her, the room is littered with workers on similar machines working with cotton fibre at different stages of production.The workers at the various rooms and spinning wheels are members of Nyando Cream, a community based organisation that is fast gaining popularity in the district.“Nyando Cream is an...
Foreign investors consider Tanzania too bureaucratic
INTERVIEW. Despite efforts being taken by Tanzania to fight corruption, a number of international investors still regard the country as full of bureaucracy to do business in. Our Reporter Beatus Kagashe interviewed Tanzania’s ambassador to the US, Ms Mwanaidi Maajar, on what is being done to promote trade and attract investments and tourists from the world’s largest economy.What is the level of economic diplomacy between Tanzania and the USA?So far, the economic relationship between the two countries is smooth and this makes Tanzania to...
Proposed legislation to extend apparel provisions to 2015
Legislation to extend AGOA's third country fabric provisions - currently set to expire at the end of September 2011 - has been introduced in Congress and referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. The proposed legislation would extend a key piece of the AGOA legislation - considered critical for the garment inductry in a number of AGOA-beneficiary countries - to 2015 and thus allow producers to continue sourcing their fabric requirements from abroad. The matter is also considered urgent, as large international buyers plan their sourcing...
Botswana's textile exports decline sharply
In the past year, Botswana’s textile exports decline sharply by 21.8%, whilst imports grew by 13.3%, despite Botswana industry being the main beneficiary to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).The Textile and Clothing Sector has contributed immensely to increased clothing and apparel exports to the US during the period 2001-2008. As a result, Botswana’s exports to the United States of America under AGOA rose from about US $ 2.2million in 2001 to about US $ 16.6million in 2008. But today, only one company, Carapparel, is...
Nigeria and the AGOA programme
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) passed as part of the Trade and Development Act of 2000 by the United States to facilitate export trade between US and sub-Saharan Africa is a programme that has come to question the very character of the Nigerian economy. It is one programme that has come to tell us, once again, that we are not doing it right.Concerned Nigerians have never stopped drawing attention to the lopsided character of the Nigerian economy which is largely dominated by oil and have argued over and over again the need for...