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Mozambicans are ready to do joint ventures with Swazi businesspeople in different sectors.Investment Promotion Centre (CPI) Coordinator of Information and Marketing Nuno Maposse said Swazis must, therefore, discuss with their counterparts in Mozambique to forge partnerships.He said areas where joint ventures were possible would be energy, agriculture, trade and others. Maposse said besides the joint ventures, Swazis could also export a number of products to Mozambique and these would be sugar, poultry, fruits and vegetables, among others.He...

This year’s AGOA Forum in Washington, scheduled for June, will focus on improving the provision of infrastructure as a critical requirement for a growing trade relationship. We will then host a follow-on business conference in Cincinnati that will continue these themes in the context of concrete activities aimed at facilitating trade. We expect robust participation from the US and African private sectors, as well as government officials, where we will underscore the priority of addressing Africa’s infrastructure and energy needs.Through...

A report in Fraternite Matin (p. 5) says that U.S assistance programs in Cote d'Ivoire were high on the agenda Monday during a meeting between Prime Minister Jeannot Ahoussou Kouadio and Ambassador Phillip Carter III. "We evaluated the assistance program in Cote d'Ivoire," the paper quotes Ambassador Carter as saying to reporters after the meeting.According to the paper, Ambassador Carter also reaffirmed the USG's commitment to continue its assistance programs in various domains including health through the PEPFAR."This year, we'll...

The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) currently provides 40 African countries with duty-free access to the US market for 6000 diverse product lines. AGOA is an act promulgated in the US that significantly enhances US market access for over 40 sub-Saharan (SSA) countries. The Act originally covered the eight-year period from October 2000 to September 2008, but amendments signed into law by then US president George W. Bush in July 2004 further extended AGOA to 2015.Since its enactment in 2000, two-way trade has grown to US$82.1...

A strong demand for flowers, canned fruits and vegetables as well as textiles helped grow Kenya’s 2011 exports to the US with industry players projecting a better performance this year owing to a new range of products allowed to enter the key market.Exports to America, both under the ordinary trade and the preferential African Growth Opportunity Act (Agoa) initiative, totalled Sh31.6 billion last year compared to Sh28.5 billion in 2010 mainly supported by shipments of agricultural produce and textiles, new data by the US International...

Ongoing border and oil disputes and the halting of oil production by South Sudan has led to renewed clashes between Khartoum and Juba, the specter of another war and the buckling of South Sudan’s underdeveloped economy. On 26 March, clashes erupted between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) of South Sudan and the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in a number of border-area hotspots. Fighting is ongoing in the states of Kordofan and Unity, the latter home to the main oil field in Heglig, inside South Sudan but claimed by both sides. The...

President Barack Obama on Monday added oil exporter South Sudan to a US trade programme for developing countries, allowing the newly independent nation to ship oil and thousands of other goods to the United States without paying US import duties. “The GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) programme is an important tool for helping developing countries to grow their economies through increased trade,” US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement. Kirk urged the young country to use the GSP programme “to continue needed...

United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk issued the following statement on today’s presidential proclamation that designates the Republic of South Sudan as a new beneficiary of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program and suspends the GSP eligibility of Argentina:“The GSP program is an important tool for helping developing countries to grow their economies through increased trade,” said Ambassador Kirk. “The President’s designation of the Republic of South Sudan as a GSP beneficiary country provides an opportunity for...

Saygin Dima Textiles would begin operations at its new textile manufacturing unit in Ethiopia by the end of March 2012. The new factory would produce fibres, yarns and fabrics for both the domestic and export markets, Turan Ahmet Turan, General Manager of Saygin Dima, said. The unit will also produce acrylic, cotton, wool, linen and other textile fibres. In addition, it also plans to focus on weaving and other items like linens, sweaters and socks. The items manufactured at the new unit will be primarily meant for exports to EU and the...

"American influence and dominance in Africa has been significantly eroded by China, Brazil, India and others," Mwangi S. Kimenyi, director of the Africa Growth Initiative at The Brookings Institution, wrote in a recent article that took a generally positive view of Africa policy under President Barack Obama. One area where commentators say American endeavors are lagging is economic engagement. In the third and final part of an AllAfrica interview, the chief U.S. Africa policymaker, Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson, described the...

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Boozman (R-AR) and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced legislation today that will help create American jobs by dramatically increasing the number of U.S. exports to Africa.The bill also aims to improve America's competiveness throughout the continent by forcing better coordination between U.S. government agencies and departments, establishing comprehensive strategic goals, and marshaling private investments to improve U.S.-Africa business activities."Increasingly I am hearing: 'the U.S. has given up on...

Swaziland's exports to the United States (US) under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) decreased by over E200 million last year. Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority (SIPA) Chief Executive Officer Phiwayinkhosi Ginindza said last year exports were at about E539.7 million ($77.1 m) compared to E777.7 million ($111) in 2010. He said US exports to Swaziland last year were E121.8 million ($17.4). Ginindza associated the decline in exports to the difficult market conditions including the strengthening of the Lilangeni against the...

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been successful in increasing jobs in garment sector and in boosting apparel exports of African countries to the US.During the first decade of implementation of AGOA (2000-10), more than 300,000 new employment opportunities were created in 40 African countries, a majority of them being in the apparel and textile sectors, Cosmas Mamhunze, Southern Africa Trade Hub (SATH)/ AGOA Trade Specialist, said during an AGOA training session.He said AGOA exports can be enhanced by increasing diversity in...

press release: For those who work on Africa, and indeed for all those who live in the region, it is difficult to imagine a world without Donald Payne.He pioneered so many trailblazing initiatives such as the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Millennium Challenge Account and Debt Relief for Africa that have helped to transform lives and the landscape of Africa. He made the cause of Africa's poor his own, and devoted his life to supporting people in their God-given right to...

It is an impoverished backwater and a byword for poverty and squalor. It ranks among the world's least developed countries. Its two million population is ravaged by Aids and has the third highest prevalence rate in the world after South Africa and Botswana. Life expectancy has plummeted from 48 to 39 years, largely as a result of Aids. More than 40 percent of its population can’t find work. An alarming 70-plus percent live below the poverty datum threshold of a dollar a day. Its capital, Maseru, is mostly a wide expanse of slums and...

Two trucks were on Monday impounded at Embakasi in Nairobi on suspicion that they were being used to smuggle Macadamia nuts in breach of an export ban imposed on the commodity two years ago.The trucks were each loaded with a twenty-foot container were intercepted by police as they left a godown located behind the Inland Container Depot in Nairobi.The cargo was suspected to be destined for China but the contents could not be verified after the police declined to open the containers in the presence of the media.A Chinese national believed to...

Three companies are set to invest Tsh36 billion (US$23.2 million) in the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA). The EPZA's director general, Dr Adelhelm Meru said, "The progress means that Tanzania would be able to earn over US$76 million in export per year." Dr Meru added that the investment will boost potentials in the EPZA industry due to the fact that Tanzania will export lime products and garments around the world. A Chinese based firm, Tanzania Tooku Garments Ltd and the Pakistan based firm, Maptex Limited will invest in the...

United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk issued a statement today upon the delivery to Congress of President Obama's 2012 Trade Policy Agenda and 2011 Annual Report. “Building on last year’s significant trade achievements, the Obama Administration is moving full speed ahead in 2012 with ambitious initiatives to secure job-supporting trade opportunities and a level playing field for U.S. firms of every size selling products and services around the world,” said Ambassador Kirk. “We are successfully pursuing President Obama’s...

Hardly a month after the World Bank Time Release Study (TRS) was commissioned, the Swaziland Revenue Authority has already identified an improvement in the internal processes of clearing vehicles, textiles and other goods. This was an observation made by Cyprian Lukhele, Station Manager at the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) office. “Preliminary reviews of the completed data collection forms revealed some areas of opportunity for improvement in our internal processes on the clearing of vehicles, textiles and other goods,” he...

Liberia’s mineral water industry has begun to take center stage as the sector moves to increase the country’s export. Enjoying government’s subsidy in the form of tax incentives, the country’s mineral water industry continues to boom on all fronts.Made-in-Liberia mineral water is found in all supermarkets, neighborhood shops, restaurants, and street corners in major cities and towns in Liberia and elsewhere. It may recalled that few years ago, the government of Liberia increased duty or tariff on imported mineral water and reduced...

At a time when the country’s earnings from its major revenue source, oil, is dipping as a result of instability in the world market occasioned by oscilating prices, there is a consensus of opinion that the non-oil export sector holds a lot of promise as a ready cash cow. But the irony, however, is that the sector, promising as it is, has suffered serious setbacks, chief among which is the inconsistency in government policies. Potentials of non-oil sectorFrom available information, the Nigerian non-oil export sector has deep agro-allied...

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who once chaired the Congressional Black Caucus, and Rosa Whitaker, former assistant U.S. trade representative for Africa, were honored for their contributions to civil rights, social, global and economic justice and African development by a group of international affairs advocates Feb. 16.The United Nations Association of Washington D.C., (UNA-NCA) in partnership with Africare, an international non-governmental organization, singled out the veteran House member and former trade diplomate in a focus on...

The textile industry in Madagascar, an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa, has recorded 20 percent growth last year, the Group of Free Enterprises and Partners (GEFP or Groupement des entreprises franches et partenaires) has said. The increase in the sector's performance is mainly owing to a rise in exports of Malagasy products to the European markets, said Charles Giblin, President of GEFP. Mr. Giblin said while the year 2011 was good for the country’s textile sector, the performance in 2012...

To say that geostrategic interests between China and Africa are on a mindboggling rise is to state the obvious. Thought leaders such as Dambisa Moyo in Dead Aid, Stephen Hayes of the US think tank Corporate Council for Africa and Deborah Brautigam, author of The Dragon’s Gift have given in-depth reasons for China’s influence in Africa is not only rising but is actually appreciated by African leaders.Indeed from a situation of criticism a few years ago, many scholars are beginning to take a favourable view of China’s engagement with...

African countries are losing billions of dollars in trade opportunities within the continent due to trade barriers, a new study by the World Bank says.It warns that most African countries, especially those relying on traditional trade partners in Europe, could experience a further drop in earnings from trade because of the Eurozone debt crisis.“While uncertainty surrounds the global economy and stagnation is likely to continue in traditional markets in Europe and North America, enormous opportunities for cross border trade within Africa in...

Textile and apparel firms operating under the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa) that allows free access to the American market for designated goods are uncertain about the future of the arrangement.As the September 2012 deadline by which they should locally source raw materials approaches, the US government is yet to react to the industry appeal to push the date back to September 2015.As a result, the textile manufacturers say, their clients abroad are “nervous” about their ability to guarantee continued supply, threatening to...

Kenyan firms are expressing confidence in the US market even as their exports stagnate in the wake of protection policies forced on President Barack Obama's administration by domestic economic problems over the past three years.Government and private sector players said low demand had hit exports to the US but there were strong prospects for growth."We enjoy greater market access now but the slow export growth reflects economic calculations by individual exporters", said Dr Stephen Mbithi, chief executive of the Fresh Produce Exporters...

Exporters who earn revenues in hard currencies have started to report big gains from a mix of a weak shilling and high global commodity prices that prevailed for most of last year.Just days after the tea industry reported a record Sh109 billion in annual earnings, key foreign exchange earners are gearing up for big leaps in revenues from their 2011 operations.“A weak shilling and high commodity prices gave the textile industry its best earnings ever from the US market,” Kenya Association of Manufacturers chairman Jes Bedi said on Friday....

Deputy United States Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis has led a US delegation to Mauritius for talks with the local government under the US-Mauritius Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), to discuss a broad range of issues relating to their bilateral trade and investment relationship. This was the fifth TIFA Council meeting with Mauritius, and the discussions included the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the on-going US-Mauritius Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) discussions, intellectual property rights (IPR),...

For decades the mountain kingdom of Lesotho has relied heavily on South Africa to advance - until now. South Africa's economic difficulties are placing Lesotho’s economy at a crossroads, as the government struggles to push big rocks up the mountain to balance the national budget. South Africa employs thousands of Basothos (nationals of Lesotho) as migrant labour, buys water from a project that in turn generates enough electricity to meet Lesotho’s needs and generously shares revenue from a customs union that contributes significantly to...

Following yesterday's consultations under the US - Mauritius Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis met with Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam. During their lengthy meeting, they discussed a number of issues regarding the U.S. economic relationship with Mauritius and the broader sub-Saharan region, including the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act’s (AGOA) third country fabric provision, the U.S.-Mauritius Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), regional...

Sri Lankan apparel exporters can use duty free trade deals and cheap labour in the West African state of Senegal to gain access to markets in North America, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said.A statement quoted Amadou Moustapha, newly appointed Ambassador of Senegal to Sri Lanka, as saying his country could be used as a production base by Sri Lankan apparel exporters.“Sri Lankan apparel manufacturers can use Senegal as a production base to reach the North American markets easily and can perform back-end operations in Senegal,"...

A delegation of the United States government is visiting Maputo until Friday in order to carry out the revision of the United States-Mozambique Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), according to a report in Mozambican newspaper Notícias. Known as TIFA, the agreement that is currently in place between the US and Mozambique was signed in June, 2005. Notícias said that ambassador Demetrios Marantis, the assistant United States Trade Representative, will be working with the Mozambican Ministry for Industry and Trade and with the...

PRESIDENT OUATTARA: (Via interpreter) Madam Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, first of all, on behalf of the Government and the people of Cote d’Ivoire, and also on my own behalf and on behalf of Mrs. Ouattara, which – who admires the Secretary of State, who would like and to wish you a warm welcome, like we say in Cote d’Ivoire, “Akwaaba.”We’re very happy to welcome you here in Cote d’Ivoire, more than 20 years after the visit of the high-ranking authority, Mr. George Shultz, who was Secretary of State. He came to Abidjan in...

Zambia's Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Bob Sichinga has observed that Zambia has not taken full advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) facility.Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, Mr Sichinga said the problem is that Zambia has little to export to the US market, unlike other African countries.“We need to create opportunities and capacity, by producing more goods for export to the US market,’’Mr Sichinga said.He says it is important to promote the exportation of traditional goods such as sugar, beans,...

With the American Presidential elections expected in November 2012, New Era spoke to local political analysts to find out what impact the re-election or, alternatively loss of power of the incumbent President Barack Obama, will mean for Namibia and Africa. The Executive Director at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), Graham Hopwood, believes that Obama mainly focused on the severe domestic economic challenges the US faces, limiting his foreign policy, particularly in Africa. "I think he has also been aware that if he had...

The US government has kept the number of sub-Saharan African countries eligible to trade under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) at 40.As of June 2011, there were 37 countries, but on October 25, 2011, President Barack Obama signed a presidential proclamation designating Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Niger as eligible for AGOA benefits.AGOA was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in May 2000 with the objectives of expanding US trade and investment with sub-Saharan Africa.According to information available on the AGOA...

The year 2011 started on good note and indeed has been a defining moment for Zambia as it has maintained the inflation level at a single-digit figure, expected to post Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of between six and seven percent and sustain the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow. The Kwacha opened on an average K4, 700 but lately has remained vulnerable due to the Euro Zone debt crisis fluctuating in the range of K5, 000 – K5, 200.But financial experts say that the trend will only be reversed if financial markets receive...

United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk has announced the outcome of the 2010 Annual Review under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme, as well as the results of the annual African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Eligibility Review.It was noted that, on October 21, 2011, President Barack Obama signed legislation authorizing the GSP programme until July 31, 2013 and retroactively applying GSP trade benefits for eligible products that entered the United States on or after January 1, 2011.Under the GSP programme,...

Forty sub-Saharan African countries will remain eligible in 2012 for US trade preferences and benefits aimed at improving lives and livelihoods on the continent. During the 2011 review process, President Obama determined that all the countries currently eligible for trade preferences and other benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) would remain eligible and that no new countries would be added as AGOA beneficiaries, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced December 29. “President Obama’s determination today is...

Today, Ambassador Kirk announced President Obama’s decision to designate 40 sub-Saharan African countries as eligible for AGOA benefits in 2012. During this year’s review process, the President determined that all of the countries currently eligible for trade preferences and other benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) would remain eligible and that no new countries would be added as AGOA beneficiaries. “President Obama’s determination today is good news for the people of these African nations, as well as for...

The United States has offered trade benefits to South Sudan during an international conference in Washington aimed at encouraging a strengthening of the U.S. presence in the newest country in Africa, especially in view of its strategic importance, given its oil production. A meeting held Wednesday and Thursday was attended by the President of South Sudan Salva Kiir, the Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and representatives of several US based companies and non-governmental organizations. Representatives from the US Department of...

Trade has long been an effective way to move millions of people out of poverty around the world. The Obama Administration views trade as a critical component of an integrated approach to development policy.In advance of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, the United States on December 14 announced steps aimed at enabling Least Developed Country (LDC) members of the WTO to benefit more fully from global trade. Building on already robust programs providing preferential access to the U.S. market for LDC exports, as...

Access to timely and accurate market information has been cited as a significant strategy for small and medium size businesses, as well as agricultural producers when expanding their trade activities in order to make economically informed decisions.This was said yesterday in Dar es Salaam by Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Marketing, Dr Shaban Mwinjaka while officiating stakeholders' meeting on Management Information System Strategy, operational framework and prototype."Export led sustainable economic growth...

As the eighth ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) gets underway in Geneva today (15 December), the US has unveiled a number of new initiatives to help the textile and apparel industries in least-developed countries (LDCs) benefit more fully from global trade.Among measures unveiled to coincide with the three-day event in Switzerland are plans to enact legislation to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act's (AGOA) "third country fabric" provision to 2015, and offer duty-free-quota-free treatment for imports of...

The United States hosted the International Engagement Conference for South Sudan to welcome the new country to the international community and provide a forum for the Republic of South Sudan (RoSS) to highlight its development priorities and opportunities for engagement with public and private sector partners. From the involvement of ten co-sponsors to the participation of over 25 countries, this conference demonstrated the continued commitment of the United States and international community to South Sudan. As part of this effort, agencies...

South African exports to the US were up 16 percent to $7 billion (R56bn) in the first nine months of the year, compared with the same period last year. Of the total, about $2.7bn qualified for duty-free access under the US-African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).Figures available on the Agoa.info website show, in the period, the US sold $5.2bn worth of goods to South Africa, leaving the latter with a $1.8bn trade surplus.The healthy growth in goods imported to the US from South Africa came despite only modest growth in the US economy....

The Ghana Chapter of African Women's Entrepreneurship Programme (AWEP), an initiative of US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has been launched in Accra to serve as a rallying point for women entrepreneurship and export trade.The US Secretary of State, initiated the programme to empower women entrepreneurs in Africa to take advantage of the US Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which offers favourable terms of trade for select African countries.AWEP has trained selected women from across the continent to form NGO chapters in their...

Recently, Gemstone Marketing and Consultancy Limited (GMC), a Zambian family owned company, charmed American Gemstone and Jewelry buyers at an exhibition held at the Zambia Embassy in Washington DC on the 3rd December, 2011The Embassy hosted the show as part of its trade promotional activities as well as the enhancement of commercial activities between Zambia and the USAIn welcoming over 75 invited guests who attended the exhibition, Charge D'affaires at the Embassy, Mr Alfred Chioza alluded to the fact that the show signified the ongoing...