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With Kenya's clothing exports to the United States facing enormous competitive challenges, efforts to increase trade between the two countries are starting to focus on other products covered by the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).Particular attention is being given to the agricultural sector. Its largely untapped potential is being touted by Kenyan ambassador Leonard Ngaithe, who says that Kenyan smallholders can gain a much larger US market share for their coffee, tea, flowers and pyrethrum. But Kenyan farmers need greater...

About 7,000 clothing and textile workers face a bleak year after three factories in Lesotho failed to reopen after the festive season.The impact of the closures on the tiny mountain kingdom, one of the least developed countries in the world, will be significant.Deputy general-secretary of the Lesotho Clothing and Allied Workers Union, B. Shaw Lebakae, told IRIN that the end of quotas for cheap imports to the United States from Asian countries would cause more foreign factory owners, originally from Asia, to reconsider the location of their...

Maseru - Six textile factories have closed and their foreign owners fled Lesotho, leaving some 6 650 workers jobless in the small mountain kingdom in southern Africa, the Factory Worker's Union said on Wednesday. The union's secretary-general, Billy Macaefa, blamed the closures on the January 1 end of worldwide textile quotas that limited competition from cheap Asian exports to the United States and European Union. "We understand that some ... were complaining that the South African rand was strong against the U.S. dollar, and they were...

There is need for small business enterprises to mass-produce quality goods if they are to access the Africa Gross Opportunity Act (AGOA) market, Small Scale Enterprise Development Board (SEDB) acting director, David Chewe, has said.In an interview in Lusaka at the weekend, Mr Chewe said there was potential market for small-scale enterprise products such as garments, tie-and-dye, flowers and other horticultural products in the AGOA market.He called on the government to facilitate an enabling environment for SMEs to produce for export to AGOA...

A senior Namibian government official has played down the potential effect the lifting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) textile quota could have on Namibia's fledging industry, as several other developing countries brace themselves for massive job losses.All quotas on textile imports were lifted by WTO countries, including the European Union (EU) on January 1, which effectively means that cheap clothing from rich and powerful nations will now flood the United States - developing countries' main market - and manufacturers from the poorer...

Zambia is among the countries in the Sub-Saharan region which have been invited to participate in the 'Fancy Food Show' in the United States under the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA).AGOA desk manager for Zambia, Moses Simemba confirmed in an interview yesterday that selected companies in the Sub-Saharan region including companies in Zambia would participate in the show in Chicago in May. Mr Simemba said the desk had identified two companies in Zambia that would attend the show."The two companies will be informed on their participation...

African textile producers are expected to be the hardest hit when rich countries end a curb on clothing imports from developing nations from Saturday, forcing Africa to compete with larger low-cost producers, analysts say.Many African countries say the end of the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, which for 40 years has guaranteed their textile exports duty-free, quota-free access to western markets, could spell a free-for-all rather than free trade.Analysts say it will force countries like Mauritius, Madagascar,...

The United States Department of Education and Cultural Affairs has released $187,000 (sh325m) to promote business between US and Ugandan textile firms.According to Dr. Maggie Kigozi, Uganda Investment Authority's (UIA) executive director, the funds, released through UGA International Outreach, will create opportunities for business, which will translate into economic growth and more jobs."The project is an important manifestation of the African Growth and Opportunities Act of 2000, which provides market access for 38 sub-Saharan African...

A central component of this Administration's broad commitment to trade liberalization has been to advance hope, opportunity, and prosperity in both developed and developing countries by reducing barriers to trade and investment. In this regard, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a key pillar of the Administration's policy to spur economic development, alleviate poverty, and encourage trade in sub-Saharan Africa.On December 21, President Bush determined that the following 36 countries continue to be eligible for economic and...

Midnight of December 31, could spell doom for Kenyan textile exporters to the United States as the World Trade Organisation ends Multi-Fibre Agreement, consequently allowing China to export textiles to the US quota-free.The MFA was established in the 1970s to give some protection to the textile industries of industrialised countries facing competition from countries with lower manufacturing costs. Since 1995, the WTO has been gradually phasing out quotas to bring trading agreements governing textiles in line with global free trade...

The Kenyan textile sector could begin to experience a slow-motion disaster starting January 1, or, then again, it may suffer only moderate damage.Either way, the New Year promises nothing positive for an industry that has been briskly expanding under the impetus of the US Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). Agoa has been responsible for the creation of an estimated 30,000 jobs in Kenya during the past three years. And now many of these workers are facing an uncertain future. The Agoa initiative, launched in 2000, allows duty-free...

With China expected to flood the world with its cheap products after the removal of quotas on textiles and clothing exports at the end of this month, there was a chance that South Africa could avoid a Chinese juggernaut as the world's largest producer of textiles shifted its focus to the world's richest markets, a top local trade unionist said yesterday."There may be an irony in that with China having greater access to the US and the EU markets, it may be less interested in focusing on the South African market, which could be a respite for...

THE U.S. trade envoy met with ministers from five southern African countries in hopes of advancing negotiations on the United States' first free-trade agreement in sub-Saharan Africa.The talks, which began in South Africa in June last year, have stalled over a number of issues, including labour, the environment and intellectual property rights. Members of the Southern African Customs Union - Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland - argue that many of these issues should be dealt with through other forums and want a more...

The United States has great respect for the economic progress that has made Lesotho the largest sub-Saharan Africa apparel exporter to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), says U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert B. Zoellick.Speaking at a December 13 press availability with Lesotho Minister of Industry, Trade and Marketing Mpho Mali Malie, Zoellick cited Lesotho's economic progress -- and some $400 million in exports to the United States -- as the reason he chose to become the first Cabinet-level U.S....

At midnight on December 31 this year, quotas which have regulated international trade in textiles and clothing are to be abolished. Textile Federation executive director Brian Brink says what was supposed to be a gradual process of phasing-in quota-free trade has boiled down to a huge hurdle at the tail end. He explains that textile and clothing quotas were first agreed in 1974, and throughout the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s developed countries erected a range of quotas against countries such as Hong Kong, India, China, Pakistan, Mauritius and...

The textile industry had invested R3 billion in new equipment, plant and expansion since the US's African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) was launched in 2000, Walter Simeoni, the president of the Textile Federation of SA, said yesterday.But the anticipated boom in exports had not materialised because of the strength of the rand, and Agoa and other trade agreements such as the one with the EU had little value at the current exchange rate, he said.Some of the investments had been funded by loans raised on the open market at high interest...

Amanda Hilligas has joined the Southern Africa Global Competitiveness Trade Hub, based here in Gaborone, as the new African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Advisor.Hilligas has 10 years of experience working on economic development and trade issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has travelled extensively in the region and has a thorough understanding of trade-related and business development issues in Africa. Before coming to Botswana, she served as the Southern Africa Desk Officer at the US Department of Commerce, where she also served as a...

Aggregate apparel exports to the United States from countries belonging to the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), comprising South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho, have shown a slight year-on-year increase. The latest trade data for apparel exports, published recently, reveals that for the 9-month period to September 2004 SACU’s apparel exports have increased by US$ 38mn compared with the same period last year. But South Africa’s poor showing taints this performance.South Africa’s exports of apparel have decreased...

Mediterranean Textile Mills has invested R100 million in new equipment over the past three years to increase production capacity to meet the demand generated by the African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa), which has become redundant because of the strengthening of the rand. Cliff Harvey, the managing director of the Hammarsdale-based mill that employs 400 people, said yesterday that the strengthening of the rand over the past 18 months had cost Mediterranean its US customer, Ltd, which last year accounted for 20 percent of the company's...

US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick travels to three countries in West Africa December 7-10 to discuss ways to further global trade liberalization through the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Development Agenda and to learn more about Africa's needs on cotton and other key products. Zoellick's visit to Senegal, Benin and Mali will fulfill a pledge he made to West African trade ministers in Geneva earlier in 2004 to continue a dialogue with African countries interested in the global cotton trade and development.These three...

Worker layoffs in Swaziland are proliferating at year's end as a result of the strong South African rand, to which the Swazi currency, the lilangeni, is linked."The situation is intense, and a few factories have already closed down because they are running at a loss. The manufacturing process is quite expensive, and these companies are getting very little income through exports," said Robert Maxwell, a spokesman for the textile industry.Swaziland's textile industry has dominated the small country's manufacturing sector. Thirty-five...

The Kenyan Government's efforts to revive the ailing cotton industry have failed to spur the sector's growth.The much-touted African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) that was expected to inspire the once vibrant sector is yet to materialise. Cotton production has dropped from a peak of 70,000 bales in 1984 to mere 30,000 bales last year.Industry sources say only 10 per cent of the 384,000 hectares previously under cotton cultivation is utilised."Although cotton prices have improved since 1991, when the market was liberalised, cotton...

Zambia's Government says the African Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA) has played a major role in increasing exports in some Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) countries whose current figures stand at US$752 million compared to $457 million in 2002.Commerce, Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Eugene Appel said yesterday that COMESA exports under AGOA stood at $880.5 million in 2003 from $456.7 million in 2002, indicating an increase of 52 per cent.He said this when he officiated at the eighth meeting of inter-governmental...

Kenya records a deficit of 100,000 bales of cotton annually. It cannot meet local and foreign demand with the 20,000 bales it produces yearly. Domestic consumption is 120,000 bales. Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA) managing director Bartholomew Wanyama questioned the inability of Kenya to take advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), extended to 2007.The deal allows Kenya to export duty-free cotton products to the US.In the last four years more than Sh6.9 billion has been invested in the textile sector, he...

South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel told textile workers on Thursday that foreign exchange matters were key to understanding the future of the textile industry. He said one of the realities was that the fundamentals of the United States economy were out of kilter. The US was "importing more than it's exporting", and the inevitable consequence of this was the devaluation of the dollar. The textile industry had to take into consideration the inevitable appreciation of the rand. "We can pull guns on each other, we can misbehave and...

Amid various measures being taken to enhance the outreach of the Ethiopian export sector, a fact finding trade mission from the US is here and seems to have landed on a major meeting point between exporters and buyers in the Ethiopian and American context. In a meeting organized the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce (AACC), in collaboration with the Ethiopia-American Chamber of Commerce (EACOC) in partnership with the Consulate General of Ethiopia in Los Angeles, the Africa/USA International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AfUSA) and...

A Botswana textile entrepreneur said yesterday that the country should not worry about who won the US elections but what it has achieved under Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).Aswin Singh, the chief executive officer for the Microlith Factory in Selibe Phikwe said yesterday that Botswana should fully take advantage of the extension of AGOA."AGOA is in place, the elections have come and gone and Botswana should take advantage of the extension," Singh said. He added that the Botswana elections are more important than those of the US....

Two professors from the University of South Carolina in the US have vowed to lobby their government to restrict the quantity of textiles Asia exports to America.While visiting Apparels Tri-Star in Bugolobi recently, Robert Relfe and Doug Woodward, said if Uganda and other African countries are to sustain exports to the US, they should be protected from being swallowed up."We are going to lobby our government through the media and other structures like the (US) Senate to restrict textile imports from Asian Tigers," Woodward said.He said since...

Analysts in the US expect little change in American policy toward East Africa following President George W. Bush's re-election last week. And that is seen as either a good or a bad development, depending on the analyst's perspective."I don't think the election outcome is negative for Africa," says Stephen Hayes, head of the Corporate Council on Africa. "This administration deserves credit for being pragmatic and some good programmes it has launched." Continuation of Bush administration policies is both likely and "quite ominous," in the...

Zimbabwe's exclusion from the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) is still haunting the local textiles industry, four years after the promulgation of the trade agreement between the United States of America and Africa.AGOA, signed into law by former US president Bill Clinton, allows duty-free entry of a range of African goods into the US market. Zimbabwe is the only southern African nation which was excluded from AGOA because of its alleged bad human rights record.The local textile industry, facing fierce competition from the booming...

Swazi government policies and trade schemes like the US African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) have not dented poverty in the kingdom, as they primarily benefit the ruling family and an elite minority, according to a new report."Economic growth has been exceptional over the past years, and the country strives to attract more investors to reap the benefits of AGOA. Yet, all forms of inequality are substantially on the rise," concluded the report by Dr Gabriel Tati, a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Management at...

Recent media reports stating that Mauritius has been granted LDC status (read the L’Express article here and a similar feature by the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce here) were found to be premature. This follows investigations by AGOA.info, and enquiries to the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and US Office for Textiles and Apparel.The re-designation of Mauritius has indeed been tabled before the US Congress, as part of the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004 (HR-1047). This 300-page Act covers a number of areas, and...

China urged Europe on Thursday to refrain from "putting up barriers" in a new set of EU trade priorities that would hit Chinese textiles.The European Commission on Wednesday proposed the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) that would deprive China of its current right to pay only a three-percent tariff, against the usual 12 percent.EU textile import quotas are to end from January 1, 2005, as agreed under the last so-called Uruguay Round of WTO trade talks in the 1990s."I believe (the removal of quotas) in the textile trade is an...

International trade expert in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Noko Murangi, yesterday contended that the elimination of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Textiles and Clothing quotas would have ramifications for Namibian textile companiesÿHowever, he was quick to add that the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) arrange-ment with some African countries, including Namibia, signalled that the American market would not fully lift the veil, or wholly open up its own market just yet.Textile quotas on imports would be done away with...

Reports that Botswana is not fully utilising the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) make sad reading. Botswana is one country that should have taken full advantage of this economic instrument from America. This is because AGOA is a deliberate trade preferential arrangement by the United States to allow countries that practice good governance and democracy to penetrate the American markets.Botswana is said to be one of Africa's longest democratic projects and a model of good governance and economic success - the factors that made countries...

Uganda may benefit from the export of gum arabic to the United States of America under the African Growth Opportunity Act (Agoa) if the samples there pass the functionality tests.The success of the tests will open the door for Uganda to export directly to the US duty and quota free market under Agoa, where apparels are already being exported. This is contained in a paper by Ugandan scientists titled 'Agroforestry Development in Uganda's dry lands' that was presented recently at a workshop at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in...

The US Congress voted on Friday 8th October an amendment to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) III, giving Mauritius the ‘third country fabric’ exemption. The exemption is granted for one year with renewal opportunities for three more years. Under the terms of the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB), conference report, Mauritius will be treated as an LDC and, therefore, apparel made in Mauritius from third-country fabric will be eligible for duty-free status during the one-year period from October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005....

African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Linkages (ALINC) programme in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is working with over 16 companies in the agricultural, handicrafts and the garments sectors in Zambia to help them break into the US market.According to the EBZ Newsletter for August, Zambian and regional firms under the ALINC programme were being assisted with expertise on how to export goods to the US.The Newsletter said firms were being offered consultancy services by the International Executive Services Corps...

Although the exemption under AGOA III is valid just for one year,it represents hope for Mauritius. It should help the industry hold out after the dismantling of the Multi Fibre Agreement in January.Textile producers should not miss the opprotunity to reorganise and consolidate their activities.Although the "third country fabric" exemption is valid just for one year, it represents hope for the Mauritian economy. This should help the industry hold out when the Multi Fibre Agreement is dismantled next January.The Mauritian textile industry...

Some clothing and textile exporters were failing to comply with the strict requirements of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) adopted by the US government to promote exports from Africa, South African Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Pravin Gordhan said yesterday.Their actions could jeopardise their participation in the scheme, as well as SA's status as an exporter to the US, Gordhan warned in a briefing to Parliament's finance committee on the SARS annual report.Agoa allows duty-free access into the US for about 1 800 product...

New evidence indicating that Windhoek's water sources are being polluted by waste from the Ramatex Textile Factory is putting pressure on the Windhoek City Council to take action to address blatant safety violations by the Malaysian-run concern.The Namibian has learned that streams stemming from the factory, which run into the Goreangab Dam, are carrying contaminated water - bearing the same characteristics as water tested from storage ponds at the factory last year.The salt content of monitoring boreholes in the area also shows that the...

South Africa´s automotive sector exports to the United States are lower this year than over the corresponding period last year. This is according to the latest available trade data from the US International Trade Commission. The trade data to July 2004 shows that in a number of categories, South Africa has been unable to match last year´s exports of automotives and components to the US. And since the data is denominated in US$, the impact in local Rand has been even greater as a result of a strengthening local currency.Key to South...

Africa's time has come and this will be Africa's century for economic growth and development, Rosa Whitaker, the former U.S. assistant trade representative for Africa and current president and chief executive officer of the Whitaker Group confidently predicted September 17.Speaking to hundreds of students attending the Teach Africa Youth Forum at the State Department, Whitaker pointed to the many countries in Asia that once were "so incredibly poor" but now are "experiencing a kind of prosperity that we in America take for granted." They...

New data to June show significant year-on-year gains in African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) exports from African countries to the US, states the Trade Law Centre of Southern Africa (Tralac).The 75% increase is due largely to strong growth in the energy sector.Significant export growth was also recorded in the minerals and metals sector (48%) and textiles (36%), while transport sector exports are down 12%.The proportion of agricultural exports (in relation to total agricultural exports from beneficiary countries) to enter the US market...

Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa contends that globalisation does not always lead to success or accumulation of wealth but also to a development that produces negative results.Minister Mpahlwa was speaking at the 9th national congress of the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU) at the Cape Town's Convention Centre on Friday."It produces successful countries as well as marginalized and poor countries, it takes on board those who have got the skills required by globalisation, leaving behind those who do not have...

Malawi has realized about U$200 million, approximately (K2 billion) in foreign exchange earnings from textile and garments exports under the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) for the past one and a half years, officials have said.The Malawi Garments, Textile and Leather Industrial Council Chairperson, Kentilal Desai however said in an interview that this is not to their anticipation.He noted that the foreign exchange earned is not that much because the industry imports most of the raw materials including polyester and fabrics."AGOA was a...

Opinion: IT is interesting to note that there are abundant export opportunities in the international market.While it is not uncommon to have business houses lament over a lack of, or limited access to, markets for their products, the issue at hand is not necessarily whether opportunities exist, but rather their identification and conversion into actual business. It is more an issue of addressing supply-side constraints than demand for those products. There is a vast outlay of markets in the region and beyond waiting to be exploited by...

Indigenous entrepreneurs are yet to reap the benefits of trade with the US, Trade and Industry minister Mukhisa Kituyi has said.Kituyi said that more than 70 per cent of Kenya's exports into the United States are supplied by foreign-owned companies that temporarily operate in the country."These foreign companies even borrow locally, manufacture and export to contact markets created by Kenya government agencies," Kituyi said.He said the technology these firms use is not 'rocket science', but can easily be adopted by the locals.Kituyi was...

According to bilateral trade data released a short while ago, exports from Mauritius to the US during the first 6 months of 2004 have dropped by 13% over the corresponding period last year. For the year to June, Mauritius exported US$ 132mn worth of goods to the US, in contrast to the US$ 150mn recorded in the year to June a year ago. Despite this reduction in exports, the country continues to enjoy a substantial trade surplus with its North American trade partner, from which it imported only US$ 8mn worth of goods thus far this...

The extension of favorable trade benefits to sub-Saharan nations in the latest version of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, called AGOA III, helped boost Madagascar's manufacturing and export sectors, restoring hope in the nation's economic future, Malagasy Ambassador Rajaonarivony Narisoa told a trade forum August 25."AGOA has been a tremendous success," creating thousands of new jobs, Narisoa told a Washington breakfast forum sponsored by Women in International Trade (WIIT), an umbrella organization of women trade professionals that...