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Uganda is working on a plan to increase its exports to the US through the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) in the next five years. Under Agoa, a US trade legislation enacted in May 2000, sub-Saharan African countries export more than 6,000 different products duty free. The Act originally covered an eight-year period from October 2000 to September 2008, but legislative amendments signed into law by former US president George Bush in July 2004 extended Agoa to 2015. The legislation was further extended to 2025. Trade, Industry and...

The Federal Government has begun the implementation strategy to ensure that non-oil products are duly accepted in the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The products that are being considered for export under AGOA include sesame seed, cashew, tomatoes, oranges, cassava, spices and ginger. Others are shea butter, cow pea, banana, plantain, cement, clinker, leather and articles of leather, arts and handicrafts, specialty foods and cocoa. Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar, the Deputy Director, Trade Department, Ministry of Industry, Trade...

Mr. Babatunde Faleke is the Regional Coordinator, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Lagos. In this interview with ABIBAT AMINU he speaks on opportunities open to Nigerian exporters, especially under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Excerpts: Is the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) still relevant today? Yes of course the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is United States Trade Act is still as relevant today as when it was first mooted. AGOA significantly enhances the U.S market access for 39...

President Donald Trump said the United States will revoke Mauritania’s preferred trade status in January because of its failure to make progress on human rights – namely, slavery. The West African nation will no longer be eligible for benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which affects market access, investment, and reduced or eliminated tariffs on U.S. imports. “I am providing notice of my intent to terminate the designation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (Mauritania) as a beneficiary sub-Saharan...

The outgoing chairman of the US House Foreign Relations Committee is doing South Africa one more favour before he lays down the gavel.   US Congressman Ed Royce has been South Africa’s champion in America since he met Madiba in 1997. So it’s not surprising that he’s once again on the case, using his considerable influence in Washington to try to overturn the punitive tariffs which the Trump administration slapped on imports of South African steel and aluminium in March 2018. Royce, a California Republican who chairs the...

Waheshimiwa, mabibi na mabwana, hamjambo! Habari za jioni? This is an historic day for Kenya and the United States!  And I am very glad to be here to share it with you.  If there’s one phrase that sums up today, it has to be: when you dream big “the sky’s the limit”! The United States and Kenya have a long and extraordinary partnership.  Over 55 years we have demonstrated time and again that through strong cooperation and commitment – we can accomplish amazing things! Together we have woven a beautiful tapestry...

The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and its partners are working together to increase Ghana's utilisation of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). AGOA accords sub Saharan African countries the opportunity to export over 6,500 products on a duty-free and quota-free basis. Over the years, Ghana had not been able to derive much benefit from AGOA, hence the need to encourage them to form partnerships to make strides, Nana Dr Appiagyei Dankawoso I, President of GNCCI said. He said this at a meeting called by the Chamber...

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) Hub will from November 2018 to March 2019 provide direct support in the audit and Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) certification process. Already, USAID is helping companies in the East African region become more export competitive. WRAP is a minimum standard for social compliance where US textile and apparel buyers procure products from ethical and socially compliant companies. The audit support comes at a time when direct flights from Nairobi to New York are...

The Executive Director, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Mr Segun Awolowo,  has said many indigenous industrialists and manufacturers do not know much about what it takes to export under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. He also stated that value addition and manufacturing of world-class products would enhance their global competitiveness. Awolowo spoke through the  Head of AGOA Desk, NEPC Zonal Office, Mrs Bolanle Emmanuel, during a workshop on ‘Understanding AGOA’s procedures and documentation’ on Thursday in...

Kenya is betting on bigger shipments of processed food, tea and coffee to help double its export earnings from the US free-trade deal in five years’ time — marking a shift from its long dependence on apparels. Several Kenyan products, notably apparel and agricultural produce, are big beneficiaries of the preferential African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) arrangement, which has lifted import duty on all eligible products and granted preferential market access upon compliance with Rules of Origin. Apparels have long dominated as...

Applications for the 2019 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders are now open. This program for young professionals aged 25-35 brings them together with like-minded change agents from all over sub-Saharan Africa. Fellows attend a six-week training course at a top university in the United States focused on one of three leadership tracks: Business, Civic Engagement, or Public Management. Interested candidates can learn more about the Fellowship and apply here: bit.ly/  ApplyYALI2019. Applications are due by...

South Africa may well be a “non-combatant” and an “innocent bystander” in the economic warfare which US President Donald Trump has launched against America’s major economic rivals, as trade and industry minister Rob Davies has frequently complained.  But it can and should act at least to mitigate the fallout from the gathering global contest, which now also involves Iran.    Six months ago Davies first complained that SA was suffering “collateral damage” from the trade war which Trump had launched mainly...