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Tea industry players have called for a review of the African Growth Opportunity Act to allow them access to the American market. Interim head of the tea directorate Samuel Ogola said they were negotiating to have Kenyan tea incorporated as one of the commodities for export to the market. Ogola said America is a high potential market for Kenyan tea but local traders can only benefit if they fulfill Agoa conditions. Agoa is a nonreciprocal trade preference program that provides imports of certain products from sub-Saharan African countries...

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer sparked a new conversation in trade circles on Wednesday when he floated the idea of the Trump administration launching bilateral trade negotiations with an African country "before very long."  "Personally, I think that before very long we're going to have to pick out an African country — properly selected — and enter into a free trade agreement with that country," he said in an interview on Sirius XM radio channel "Patriot 125." "And then that will, if done properly, become a...

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expects the U.S. will soon strike a free trade deal with a “properly selected” African country that will become a model for others in the region, he said on Wednesday.   During a radio interview at the White House, Lighthizer was asked about the potential for U.S. trade in the African region – something covered by the African Growth and Opportunities Act, which he said was designed to “get these economies to start moving forward” with “rules and structure that allows...

Can the year 2018 be a turning point for textile workers’ prolonged poverty? The workers in the textile industry said as they got into the new year and edged closer to this year’s negotiations which are scheduled to start next Wednesday, they would be demanding that government should adhere to TUCOSWA’s call for a basic minimum wage, which would see them as part of the least paid workforce, getting at least E3 000 per month. This means that workers are demanding up to 100 per cent increase this year as most of them earn between E1...

Dates: January 9, 2018: Deadline for filing requests to appear at the public hearing. January 11, 2018: Deadline for filing pre-hearing briefs and statements. January 23, 2018: Public hearing. [Download relevant submissions HERE] January 30, 2018: Deadline for filing post-hearing briefs and statements. February 6, 2018: Deadline for filing all other written submissions. April 30, 2018: Transmittal of Commission report to USTR.   Background: The Commission instituted this investigation following receipt of a request from the...

Called mitumba (“bundles”) in Kenya, obroni wawu (“dead white men’s clothes”) in Ghana and salaula (“select by rummaging”) in Zambia, imported used clothing is frequently blamed for the low level of domestic apparel manufacturing in Africa. Pressed by local industrialists, the East African Community (EAC), a regional economic grouping, agreed in 2016 to a complete ban on used clothes imports by 2019. Among other reasons, the EAC claimed the low prices of such items were holding back development. Global...

The US ambassador to Uganda, Deborah Malac, has said the comments made by US President Donald Trump were unfortunate and upsetting to the African continent. The envoy, however, reiterated that the US would continue to work, support and improve the lives of people in Africa.“We shall remain committed to and engaged in working with and in all the countries that we have been involved with on the continent, and continue with our programmes to help improve the lives of Ugandans,” Malac pledged.Malac made the remarks on Tuesday during a...

As part of efforts to seek ways to improve market access for Ghana’s textile industry under the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) will establish an equipment hub as the tools needed for accurate measurement are expensive for manufacturers. GSA would also make dressmakers understand the importance of measurement.   This was announced by GSA director general Alex Dodoo at a recent stakeholders meeting. A lot of Ghana’s activities related to AGOA have been more technical,...

A key factor inhibiting Ghanaian businesses from accessing the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is the lack of adherence to standards, the Director General of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Prof. Alex Dodoo, has observed. He expressed concern that ever since the introduction of AGOA in 2000, Ghana had not been able to effectively utilise the benefits from the preferential scheme which had the potential of helping Ghanaian businesses to expand. Support Addressing stakeholders in the textile industry in Accra last Friday,...

Over the past quarter century, few members of the US Congress have taken a more serious, supportive or politically brave interest in Africa than Republican Ed Royce, now chairman of the house foreign affairs committee and for many years previously its Africa subcommittee. None would be less likely than this frequent visitor to use barnyard epithets to describe the continent or its people. Earlier in January, the Orange County, California, representative unexpectedly added his name to the growing list of GOP members who have decided not to...

Kenya will have an advantage of increasing its exports to the United States when direct flights between the two countries begin in October this year. Principal Secretary State Department of Trade Dr. Chris Kiptoo said that Kenya, which is leading in Sub-Sahara exports, considers the US as a strategic market that it is ranked number three in terms of an export destination for Kenyan goods. He was addressing delegates in export business who converged in Nairobi on Thursday to develop a second strategy to support the ability of Kenyan firms...

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Hub in east Africa and the Kenyan ministry of industry, trade and cooperatives recently joined Kenya’s private sector to review and validate a new Kenya National African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) strategy that aims to double its 2016 figure of exports to the United States by 2025.  Kenya nearly doubled its exports to the United States under AGOA from $225 million in 2010 to $389 million in 2016. Apparel is mainly exported under AGOA.  The new...

Today, Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the House Africa Subcommittee, applauded the passage of the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) and Millennium Challenge Act (MCA) Modernization Act, which passed by a unanimous voice vote on the House (of Representatives) Floor. The bill, introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.), will make AGOA more effective by directing the President to establish a website with information regarding AGOA and by encouraging embassies in chosen countries promote...