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Ethiopia attracted foreign investments of US$1.2 billion in the first six months of the 2016-2017 fiscal year, dominated by Chinese companies. The investment is helping Ethiopia develop as a manufacturing hub for the global textile market. Out of the 124 foreign investors that expressed an interest in Ethiopia’s textile and clothing sector over the past three months, 71 were from China. Indian clothing and textile industry could also be a significant future player, with more than 30 investor inquiries. “The bulk of recent investment...

The 3rd Annual AGOA Civil Society Organization Network Spring Conference under the theme "The Future of AGOA under the Trump Administration and 115th Congress of the United States" took place on April 20, 2017 at the Embassy of the Republic of Senegal, in Washington DC, and on April 21, 2017 in the historic Library of the House Ways and Means Committee in the Longworth House Office Building, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC. The event brought together Ambassadors representing AGOA eligible countries, leaders from civil society,...

Kenya has started offering tax incentives to clothing companies, a key part of its under-performing manufacturing sector, to create jobs and provide affordable new clothes for shoppers. Executives in the textiles industry said the changes included allowing them to sell 20 percent of their annual production locally without sales taxes and without paying import duties on the materials and equipment used to produce the garments. The advent of cheap, second-hand clothes imports from the U.S. and Europe, locally known as mitumba, in the 1980s,...

The volume of apparel shipped to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) declined by 12.1 per cent last year even as uncertainty clouds the 17-year-old preferential pact under President Donald Trump. The 2017 Economic Survey shows apparel volumes exported declined to 74.4 million pieces in 2016 even as earnings increased to Sh35.2 billion on the back of weak shilling. Under AGOA — a trade pact allowing US buyers to import goods from a number of sub-Saharan African countries without paying duty or facing quota...

US Ambassador David Gilmour, who represents the United States in the nation of Togo, will travel to Tumwater April 11-13 to tour the headquarters of natural body care products company Alaffia. The company has been selected to present their success story at the 38-nation AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) summit being held in Togo in August. Ambassador Gilmour will participate in a number of events while he is in the Olympia area to discuss why Washington state and the nation of Togo could mutually benefit from a stronger trade...

Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia on Tuesday said that the state would establish a 9,000- hectare free trade zone at its boundary with Rivers. Ikpeazu made this known when Chief Olabitan Famutimi, the National President of Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), visited him in his guest house in Aba. Ikpeazu said that the free trade zone was necessary to facilitate export of goods from the state. “Abia State delegation to Singapore has left the shores of Nigeria to come back with the final design of our free trade zone. “The free trade...

The United States and sub-Saharan Africa do tens of billions of dollars in trade together each year. While some regions in the world are disturbed by President Trump’s “America first” stance, most exports coming from Africa to the U.S. are natural resources and low-value goods, thus it is generally accepted wisdom that African trade has not hurt American manufacturing or taken away any jobs. In fact, to the contrary, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) — a trade preference program allowing duty-free access to the U.S. for...

Nigeria’s current economic situation, particularly the disparity between naira and U.S. dollar present huge opportunities that must force government and stakeholders to boost non-oil exportation through  the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), experts have said. The experts spoke on Tuesday, at a training organised in Lagos by the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), to reverse Nigeria’s poor participation in the duty and quantity free policy. The experts including the Senior AGOA Specialist, West Africa Trade...

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) offers a duty-free access to the largest market in the world. Although it has the potential to be a major driving force in African development, the AGOA has been under utilised. With the renewal of AGOA up to 2025, it is high time to maximise its potential for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). This statement was made yesterday by the Minister of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives, Mr S. Bholah at the launching of AGOA Preparedness Workshop for SMEs at Westin Turtle Bay hotel in...

The importance knowledge and readiness to take advantage of opportunities has been described as imperative, especially in boosting the capacity of small businesses in mobilising scarce foreign exchange. Fidelity Bank Plc, in collaboration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Ghanaian based West African Trade and Investment (WATI) HUB in an African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) workshop for leather and garment cluster businesses in the South Eastern part of the country made this known. The event was part of efforts...

Following Donald Trump’s surprise election in late 2016, the relative stability of American foreign policy on the continent has been called into question. Apart from Trump’s general unpredictability and lack of clarity on policy issues, all three main areas of co-operation are areas where Trump has publicly broken with American policy orthodoxy. This raises questions around what impact Trump will have on the existing ties between America and Sub-Saharan Africa and what this will mean for the region. Trump has said relatively little...

An expert on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has called for the need to have a consortium to help in meeting the demand for local products on the international market. This comes at a time when Malawi producers are failing to meet the demand on the international market despite the country being included to enjoy the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Speaking after visiting the Kwithu Kitchen women group, United States Ambassador to Malawi Virginia Palmer expressed worry over underproduction of goods for the international...

Africa is overwhelmingly the poorest region in the world. In 2015, after more than a decade of the “Africa Rising” narrative, the region’s GDP was around $1.6 trillion, barely 2% of global GDP. The same year, Africa (including North Africa) attracted $38 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), again just over 2%of global FDI, which was $1.7 trillion. On the issue of trade, Africa did not fair much better; the continent is responsible for just 3% of the $18 trillion worth of global trade. Considering Africa’s lackluster...

The President of US-Africa Business Centre at the US Chamber of Commerce, Mr Scott Eisner, has expressed the resolve of the chamber to make Africa the frontline of President Donald Trump’s administration in terms of trade policies. Towards that, he said, the chamber would soon begin talks with some key stakeholders in the new administration in America to push for the development of a US-African trade policy. “The US Chamber of Commerce, together with its affiliates in Africa, such as the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Ghana,...

The hard-won African Growth and Opportunity Act allows duty-free exports to the U.S. from eligible African countries, and it remains a controversial trade agreement, but it has changed the conversation about U.S.-Africa trade, according to one of its architects. President Bill Clinton was not initially supportive of AGOA because the N, CEO of The Whitaker Group. Photo: TwitterGO community said that it was a ploy to get rid of Africa’s aid, replacing it with corporate welfare. But once Clinton embraced it, he fully embraced...

Given the new sheriff in town in Washington, and his strong ideas about trade, J. Brooks Spector believes it is the right time for African nations to come together to define their agenda on trade issues with America – before the Trump administration does it for them.   Dear Ministers, Over the past several months, many people around the world have been fixated on the surpassingly strange events now taking place in Washington, DC. Not surprisingly, these political shenanigans have occupied first place for many, monopolising the...

East Africa's eligibility to retain duty-free access to markets in the United States under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) is at risk following concerns raised by Washington about the bloc's decision to phase out the importation of second-hand clothes starting this year. According to the US, the EAC presidents' directive to ban importation of used clothing will not spur additional US textile and apparel investment in the region, which is largely export-oriented and based on Agoa tariff preferences. In a senior trade officials'...

What will trade with Africa look like under a Trump presidency? African leaders are concerned that the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, will be on the chopping block under Trump and that the continent itself will not be a priority. The AGOA was enacted by Congress in 2000 and signed into law by President Clinton. It allows sub-Saharan African countries to export thousands of goods to the U.S. on a duty-free basis. The act, which has enjoyed bipartisan support, “offers tangible incentives for African countries to continue...