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The 6-day AGOA Expo and Trade Fair from September 25 in New York is a business platform committed to celebrate US-Africa cooperation, strengthen bilateral trade relations, promote AGOA key export products and investment opportunities. It is an opportunity for US companies to expand business or introduce new products, services in the 40 African countries.  The trade fair will give opportunity to all beneficiaries of the trade agreement to promote their business including various activities including AGOA Key Exports Products...

Renewed confidence in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has resulted in an upward trend, with the country’s trade under the programme registering a total of US$748million last year, according to the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI).The surge in performance reflects the collective efforts by government and other stakeholders including the chamber in strengthening the country’s exports.After reaching its peak in 2011 with exports earnings of US$779 million and subsequent decline in 2012, when it recorded...

The South African Poultry Association (SAPA) wants government to review the quota of US poultry imports, following the imposition of tariffs on local aluminium and steel products. In court papers filed in the North Gauteng Court, the organisation argues that US tariffs on SA steel and aluminium exports have affected the benefits that South Africa enjoyed under the preferential trade deal. Under the deal, the US is allowed to export 65 000 tons of frozen bone-in chicken portions free of anti-dumping duty into South Africa.  SAPA...

Setting aside the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) will have dire consequences, members of Parliament heard on Thursday. Department of Trade and Industry (dti) Director General Lionel October was sharing developments on trade relations between SA and the US with the portfolio committee on trade and industry.  The South African Poultry Association (SAPA) has brought forward a court applicationto have the entire AGOA agreement (Ed: on poultry) set aside, arguing that the US reneged on the agreement. This is in context of...

On August 26-30, the USAID East African Trade and Investment Hub conducted a buyer mission to Antananarivo, Madagascar for a large publicly listed U.S. apparel company. The U.S buyer engaged with apparel companies in Madagascar and identified several sourcing opportunities that could support its production of apparel and related fashion goods across several top brands.  “Madagascar’s private sector is recognizing and fully embracing the longevity from investing in the value chain, creating a sustainable footprint, and embracing...

US officials have made no link between SA’s plan to expropriate land without compensation and the country’s access to trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), trade and industry minister Rob Davies said. One of the conditions for being eligible for Agoa, which favours 39 African nations by eliminating import levies on more than 7,000 products, is the protection of private property rights. Trade union Solidarity has warned that the ANC’s plan to change the constitution to allow expropriation without...

On August 28, 2018, Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Industry, Trade and Cooperatives Peter Munya (represented by Trade Principal Secretary Dr. Chris Kiptoo, pictured on left) delivered Kenya’s National African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Strategy and Action Plan 2018-2023 to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington, DC. The Strategy, which aims to double Kenya’s U.S. export value from $552 million in 2016 to $1,105 million in 2023, was officially launched on July 31, 2018 and developed through USAID Hub...

The meeting earlier this week between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his United States counterpart Donald Trump should, hopefully, cement strategic interests between the two countries. It signals how much bilateral relations have warmed up since the infamous “choices have consequences” warning by a senior US government officer before the 2013 elections. For Kenya, enhancing trade and investment should be at the core of the newfound relations. It is the key to expanding opportunities for economic growth and creating jobs for the youth,...

Twelve Liberian companies have received sponsorship to travel to the African Growth and Opportunity Act Expo and Trade Fair in New York. The companies received pledges of US$2,500 each during a Made in Liberia contest held on Monday, August 27 where entrepreneurs had to pitch their products. The fair is scheduled to take place September 25-30. The Made in Liberia Pitching Contest organized by the Liberia Chamber of Commerce and the Ezzat N. Eid Foundation as a fundraising event aiming to help Liberian entrepreneurs who were producing...

Herman Pretorius is just the kind of white South African farmer U.S. President Donald Trump expressed concern for when he barged into the country's delicate land reform debate by ordering an investigation into the "large-scale killing of farmers". But for the greying, bespectacled 58-year-old, wading knee-deep through some 35,000 chickens at his isolated homestead in South Africa's North West province, it's the United States and its cheap poultry exports that are a threat. "We cannot compare our chickens with theirs. The price difference...

Kenya and United States of America have established a trade and investment working group to explore ways of deepening business ties between the two countries. The  United States Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer and the Kenyan Industry, Trade and Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary, Peter  Munya jointly announced establishment of the partnership in the US on Sunday. Under the Trade and Investment Working Group, the two countries would work together to explore a mutually beneficial trade and investment framework to guide the...

The East African Community had given itself up to 2019 to begin stopping the importation of second hand clothes from the United States. In 2016, the presidents of Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda said taking the move would protect their textile and leather industries. It did not take long before things began falling apart. First, the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association, a US lobby, argued that the ban would amount to a trade barrier, violating the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (Agoa). The Act allows no tariffs...

The United States poultry industry will press its government to retaliate if South Africa suspends a quota that excludes some U.S. imports from an anti-dumping tariff, the head of a poultry trade group said. The South African Poultry Association (SAPA) has filed a lawsuit seeking to force the government to suspend the quota in response to the Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from South Africa. “We will certainly be encouraging our government to take appropriate action,”...

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma is already in the United States ahead of a scheduled visit to the White House by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday. Upon her arrival at the Dulles International Airport on Wednesday, the CS held talks with 28 African resident ambassadors on trade cooperation with the US post-African Growth and Opportunity Act framework (AGOA). She also engaged the ambassadors on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). The CS later addressed the American Society of Travel Agents at an event...

Barely weeks after the Trump administration partially suspended Rwanda’s benefits to export apparel duty-free to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act - AGOA, the government of Rwanda says that it remains committed to supporting any Rwandan trader who still wishes to access the US market. The government also says that it expects minimal effects from the suspension. Just what does this suspension mean?

The SA Poultry Association (Sapa) has filed a lawsuit seeking to force the government to suspend a quota that excludes some US poultry imports from an anti-dumping tariff, a senior official with the association said on Tuesday. If successful, the move – a response to the Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on aluminium and steel imports – could put at risk duty-free access to the US market for nearly $2 billion (R28.6bn) worth of South African exports. “We’ve pulled the trigger,” Marthinus Stander, chairperson of...

The Liberia Chamber of Commerce and the Ezzat N. Eid Foundation have organized a contest to attract products made in Liberia. On Monday, August 27 entrepreneurs will be invited to pitch their products at a pitching contest and fundraising event in Monrovia. Friday, August 24 is the deadline for entrepreneurs to apply to get their local products selected. Winning entrepreneurs will get the opportunity to showcase their Liberia-made products at the African Growth and Opportunity Act Expo and Trade Fair scheduled for September 25-30...

EVENT: Please join us on Tuesday, August 21 at 09:00 EDT/13:00 GMT/15:00 CAT for a telephonic press conference with State Department Economic and Business Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Trade Policy and Negotiations, Peter Haas where he will preview his travel to South Africa and Ethiopia to promote agricultural innovation, science-based regulatory policy, and increased trade.  Mr. Haas will participate as a speaker at the first ever BIO Africa Convention in Durban alongside science and trade ministers from...