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Apart from the bogus "birther" claim that President Obama was born in Kenya, Africa has barely been mentioned by either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump during the campaign. That silence extends to the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which allows most products from 38 eligible sub-Sahara countries to export goods to the US duty-free. Sixteen years since its launch, Agoa has not driven industrial development in Africa as had been anticipated. But the programme has served as a catalyst for increased textile production and associated job...

With the accession of the Republic of Liberia’s membership to the World Trade Organization there has been considerable dialogue amongst Liberian nationals in the United States about the economic future of their West African nation. This past July, during the Liberian Independence Day celebrations in Washington, DC the Liberian Ambassador to the United States reminded his constituents that Liberian nationals abroad, particularly in the United States could do more by taking advantage of the unique trade relations among the United States and...

South African exporters have been encouraged to utilise more of the tariff lines negotiated under the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA). This came through at the two-day Team Export South Africa (TESA) workshop which took place in Midrand in the past two days. According to the Director of Americas Bilateral Trade Relations in the International Trade and Economic Development Division (ITED) of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) Mr Malose Letsoalo, South Africa is only utilising 141 tariff lines out of the 1835 that are there...

If you’re ever shopping for a pair of jeans in an American mall, check the label. If it was made in, say, Lesotho – a tiny mountainous country surrounded by South Africa, with a population of around two million – you probably have the the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to thank for it. The AGOA, which was implemented in 2000, allows more than 6,400 products from eligible sub-Saharan African countries to enter the United States market duty-free. According to Lesotho’s National AGOA Strategy, the country’s...

The United States Government has stated that Nigeria and other African countries accounted for $4.1 billion worth of non-oil trade under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). According to the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa, Florizelle Liser, the scheme has resulted in a four-fold increase, from $1.4 billion in 2001 to $4.1 billion in 2015, in the continent’s non-oil trade with the country. Worried by the infrastructural deficit impeding trade growth, the U.S. recommended that African countries should focus on...

An importer provides clarity on the misconception around chicken “waste” and “leftovers” entering the country, while also challenging the SA Poultry Association to provide exact numbers of job losses owing to imported chicken. This is in response to an opinion piece by CEO Kevin Lovell entitled "The war of the chickens" that was originally published in City Press and republished by Fin24.   [See original article HERE] The vast majority of South Africa’s informed and intelligent consumers would have recognised this...

The Chief of Party of the West Africa Trade and Investment Hub, Mrs Carol Adoum, has advised the government  to provide more assistance to the textile and apparel industry in order to position industries in that sector to fully take advantage of the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA). She said the opportunities that AGOA was giving to the industry could make a huge difference to the government because if their businesses grow, government revenue would also grow. She explained that that for the compnies could take the full advantage...

The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), implemented by the United States government, has resulted in a four-fold increase, from $1.4 billion in 2001 to $4.1 billion in 2015, in the continent’s non-oil trade with the country, Florizelle Liser, Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa, announced today, 17 October 2016 in Cairo, Egypt. In a presentation at the headquarters of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) during the maiden edition of the Afreximbank Trade and Development Seminar Series, Liser says that sectors that...

Our country is facing great turbulence at present, from economic stagnation and political uncertainty through to ahistorical calls for radical change. [See follow-up response to this article HERE.] And while all this is going on, a quieter disaster is slowly starting to bubble over the lip of the pot. Following the birth of our democracy in 1994, South Africa’s chicken industry has been suffering the effects of rising levels of imported poultry products. This is for two main reasons. Firstly, our borders were opened up to trade more...

Zambia will continue strengthening its participation in regional economic integration and trade investment platforms because the agenda will promote the country’s industrialisation efforts, a senior Government official has said. Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry permanent secretary Kayula Siame also said there is need for continued private sector sensitisation on the eligibility of the over 6,000 products that are supposed to be exported duty free into the US market, under the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum. In an...

Next time you pick up sporting gear or a pair of jeans in a US mall, do check the label. It may have been made in Lesotho, a small, mountainous and land-locked country completely surrounded by South Africa, with a population of around two million. Lesotho is a beneficiary of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which allows over 6,400 products from eligible sub-Saharan African countries to enter the US market duty-free. The country has made big strides in the garment industry with US exports estimated at US$330 million in 2015,...

The number of regional trade agreements has almost quadrupled in the past 25 years, from 70 in 1990 to around nearly 280 today. The collapse of the Doha round of trade talks in Nairobi in December has deflected energy to regional trade agreements. These agreements are great in helping rejuvenate global trade, which slowed as the economic recovery tapered in recent years and the Chinese economy decelerated. Africa is well positioned to engage regional trade agreements. Signed in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, in June 2015, the...

A recent meeting in the United States held under the auspices of Civil Society Network on African Growth Opportunities Act exposed the poor preparation of Nigeria for the diversification of its economy along the non-oil export sector. The President, Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, Chief Olabintan Famutimi, gave the indication during a Fidelity Bank/NACC breakfast meeting themed, “Driving growth in the non-oil sector.” According to him, the representation by Nigeria at the AGOA event, which sought to find solution to Africa’s...

As the EU-Southern African Development Community’s (Sadc’s) economic partnership agreement takes effect on Monday, the Obama administration has raised concerns that US companies have been left at a competitive disadvantage because of this country’s unwillingness to negotiate an equivalent trade deal with the US. In a briefing on Thursday, Laird Treiber, economic counsellor at the US embassy in Pretoria, characterised the disadvantage "significant", affecting "maybe a couple of hundred" products. US Trade Representative Michael Froman...

Angolan entrepreneurs should continue to make efforts to take greater advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), said last Thursday in Luanda the ambassador of the United States of America (USA) to Angola, Helen La Lime. The diplomat, who was speaking at a press conference held in the framework of Angola's participation in the Second Business Summit USA/Africa, which happened last September 26, in Washington, said that Angola has not yet taken full advantage of the relations it has established through AGOA. She said so far...

With the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum ending in Washington this week and the European Parliament approving further trade agreements with six African states earlier this month, the apparent race for African trade continues to intensify. This is no great surprise given the GDP of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is expected to grow 30 percent faster than the rest of the world over the next five years. By 2030, the region will have a quarter of both the world’s workforce and consumers. However, if we are serious about wanting...

The United States government has asked the South African government to challenge an attempt by South African poultry and pork producers to once again block US imports of those products into South Africa. Health restrictions which had blocked the import of US poultry, pork and beef for many years were only lifted earlier this year after protracted negotiations between the two governments. The SA Poultry Association (SAPA) and SA Pork Producers Organisation (SAPPO) have gone to court seeking orders which would block the imports again. SAPA...

The United States government has asked the government to challenge an attempt by South African poultry and pork producers to once again block US imports of those products. Health restrictions that had blocked the import of US poultry, pork and beef for many years were lifted only earlier this year after protracted negotiations between the two governments. The SA Poultry Association (SAPA) and SA Pork Producers Organisation (SAPPO) have gone to court seeking orders to block the imports again. SAPA and SAPPO said lifting the health...

The US- Africa African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum, which took place from September 22-26, 2016, in Washington DC, USA, was an opportunity for both African countries and the US to reflect on the gains made under AGOA to date. This was especially important as indications point to the current iteration of AGOA being the last one ahead of a new trade dispensation between the US and Africa from 2025 onwards, punctuated by reciprocal trading relations. Lesotho is one of the countries that has benefitted and continues to benefit...

The United States poultry industry has warned that South Africa could once again lose its trade free access for many exports to the market if South African poultry and pork producers get a court injunction to block US chicken imports. US Poultry and Egg Export Council (Usapeec) president James Sumner said that if the South African Poultry Association (Sapa) and SA Pork Producers Organisation (Sappo) won their court case “it probably would – and should – trigger another out-of-cycle review under Agoa”. The African Growth and...