Agoa.info - African Growth and Opportunity Act
TRALAC - Trade Law Centre
You are here: Home/News/Article/Botswana: Government launches strategy to benefit more from AGOA

Botswana: Government launches strategy to benefit more from AGOA

Botswana: Government launches strategy to benefit more from AGOA
Credit: MORERI SEJAKGOMO

Two-way trade between Botswana and the US

Data in $ '000 for the past three years

Disaggregated data of exports from Botswana to US

Data in $ 000 for the years 2000 to date

Published date:
Friday, 25 August 2017
Author:
PAULINE DIKUELO

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) National Response Strategy, which was developed through the assistance of the USAID Southern Africa Trade and Investment Hub, will be launched at the beginning of next month.

The strategy would help local businesses grow by taking advantage of AGOA provision of duty-free exports to the United States of America (USA) with the hub’s experts working directly with the private sector to improve productivity and facilitate robust regional trade and global market access.

The strategy would focus on the beef, textile, arts and craft, as well as jewellery sectors.

arrow right Related: See link to AGOA.info's AGOA Strategy archive 

Speaking during the opening of the USAID Southern Africa Trade Hub office in Gaborone this week, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), Peggy Serame said the scope of the AGOA National Response Strategy supports the country’s long-term vision, Vision 2036, as well as the National Development Plan (NDP) 11.

“Through the strengthened collaboration, Botswana envisions trade arrangement with the USA that would foster increased foreign investment for both goods and services during the implementation of the AGOA National response and beyond 2025,” she said.

The new hub will continue to work with MITI to break down barriers to trade in order to increase exports, achieve regional economic integration, increase uptake in utilisation of the AGOA by Botswana businesses.

According to Serame, the non-reciprocal preferential treatment offered by AGOA to export goods duty-free to the US market does not only provide Botswana with an opportunity to increase the export volumes and value, but also serves as a tool to take the country’s industrialisation efforts to another level through developing the value chains of the identified AGOA potential sectors.

In 2015, AGOA was extended by 10 years to September 2025, with the aim of ramping up investment and trade amongst AGOA beneficiary countries. The extension emphasises the need to boost trade and investment between sub-Saharan Africa and focuses on regional integration, economic development and diversifying sources of growth, eliminating barriers to trade and investment.

USAID deputy chief of party, Malvern Rusike said over the years the textiles and apparel sector has been Botswana’s main AGOA beneficiary sector constituting between 90 to 100% of total AGOA exports for the country.

At its peak in 2011, Botswana had over 10 textiles and apparel firms exporting under AGOA. Of these textiles and apparel firms that operated from Botswana, some have shifted focus from exporting to the US market towards South Africa while some have relocated mostly to Lesotho with others having closed down.

Botswana’s AGOA exports have not increased beyond 2012 levels dropping from a peak of $17.1 million in 2011 to $8.26 million in 2015.  “While average AGOA exports from sub-Saharan Africa constitute 45 to 50% of total exports to the US, Botswana’s exports were less than four percent from 2013 to 2015,” he said.

Out of the 12 AGOA eligible SADC countries, Botswana was the eighth best exporter in 2015 with a total of $8.3 million and ninth the following year with a total of $4.8 million. In total, Botswana exported goods to the US worth $225 million in 2015 and $445 million in 2016.

Rough diamonds exports, which are Botswana’s main exports, are not included in the AGOA trade pact.

  

Read related news articles

Botswana: Government acts as AGOA exports hit zero

Government is hoping its newly revitalised strategy for the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) reaps dividends after revelations that exports by local companies under the trade deal have been at zero since 2019 end. AGOA is a trade arrangement between the US and sub-Saharan African countries, including Botswana, which runs till 2025 and provides relaxed access to the American market. From a peak of P1.8 billion in AGOA exports by...

04 June 2021

Namibia launches AGOA strategy to increase tariff-free exports to the United States

Today, U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson joined Minister of Industrialisation and Trade Lucia Iipumbu to officially launch Namibia’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Utilization Strategy. The strategy seeks to increase Namibia’s exports under the AGOA program, which allows Namibia to export over 6,400 products tariff-free to the United States. This joint effort to develop the AGOA strategy is part of the United States’ efforts to...

11 May 2021

US and Botswana MITI launch revised AGOA Utilization Strategy to improve economic growth in Botswana

On April 29, the Embassy of the United States of America joined the Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry (MITI) and other stakeholders to launch the revised strategy (see link to download) at the Hilton Garden Inn in Gaborone.   U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Botswana, Craig L. Cloud, joined Minister Mmusi Kgafela to formally launch the strategy.   Also present were the USAID Representative to Botswana, Ms....

03 May 2021

Botswana: AGOA dream dims for local textile sector

Local textile and apparel producers appear to be giving up hope of exporting to the United States under the duty-free AGOA provisions, preferring instead to focus on the local and regional markets, BusinessWeek has established. AGOA is a trade arrangement between the US and sub-Saharan Africa running till 2025 and providing relaxed access to the American market. Textiles are Botswana’s primary export under AGOA. From a peak of P1.8...

30 August 2019

Uganda: Government working on new AGOA strategy

Uganda will, before the end of April, reportedly launch a national strategy that will identify key products that Uganda can leverage on to improve its exports to US.  The strategy, whose formulation started in 2016, seeks to among others, identify five key products that can influence Uganda’s penetration into the US market.  Ms Suzan Muhwezi, the head of Agoa Secretariat, said the strategy has already been tabled before...

15 April 2019

Botswana: Textile sector upbeat, despite AGOA export collapse

The country’s textile and apparel exports to the United States under AGOA, fell to just $3,000 (P32,100) in 2018, the first numbers showing the impact of the relocation to Lesotho of the last exporting firm. Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act’s duty and quota free provision, Botswana textile firms were shipping off P1.8 billion in stock to the US at the peak in 2008. Becky Geiger, an international trade specialist in the US...

22 March 2019

Sierra Leone to launch its AGOA response strategy

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), an initiative of the United States Government, allows low-income countries to access the US market on very favourable trade terms.  The implementation of the new AGOA Strategy will allow Sierra Leone to benefit from duty free access to US markets when exporting products produced in the country.  The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in collaboration with the International Growth...

11 February 2019

New Ethiopia AGOA strategy in full swing

The USAID Hub’s lead African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) strategy consultant is in Ethiopia this week to gather supply-side information and conduct a sector analysis for a new Ethiopia National AGOA Strategy. The Ethiopian government requested the Hub to provide technical assistance on the Strategy, which will set strategic actions and targets for significant growth in exports from Ethiopia to the United States by 2025. The Hub began...

17 January 2019

USAID supports Kenya’s AGOA strategy to double duty-free exports by 2023

Kenya’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives has launched the Kenya National African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Strategy and Action Plan (2018-2023) alongside Kenya’s National Export Development and Promotion Strategy.  The new National AGOA Strategy outlines actions for priority sectors to increase the country’s exports to the U.S. by 10.4 percent annually. In 2017, Kenya exported goods worth $572 million to the...

31 July 2018

Kenya: New national export strategy seeks to grow exports to KSh 1.3t by 2022

The Cabinet Secretary for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Hon. Peter Munya has lauded the 2nd Kenya Trade Week and Exposition forum at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC). Speaking at the opening ceremony on Monday, the CS lauded the forum for bringing together both private and public sector players to chat ways of bridging Kenya’s imports and exports gap. He emphasised the importance of Buy Kenya, Build Kenya which aims...

31 July 2018

Botswana: 'Businesses fail to fully utilise AGOA' - BITC

Local businesses are failing to exploit the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), says the director for export development at Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC), Mr Obert Yuyi. Mr Yuyi said this during a national AGOA response strategy workshop in Francistown on April 24. He said with the recent closure of mines around Francistown, unemployment was on the rise and that it required the business community to take over and employ...

25 April 2018

You are here: Home/News/Article/Botswana: Government launches strategy to benefit more from AGOA