The American-supported Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has identified environmentally related problems such as water purification as one of its priorities. The Director of the AGOA Training Centre based in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, Mrs Soppo B. Ngalle says, the distribution of drinking water purification machines is among the various opportunities so far identified by the AGOA management. Others centre around trade in textile and craft, fruit processing and low-cost housing.

Mrs Soppo Ngalle is preparing a series of sensitisation campaigns in Cameroon to revise public awareness on the capabilities and prospects of AGOA in sub-saharan Africa. The planned sensitisation campaign is coming on the heels of the American prospecting and training mission to Cameroon last November 2003 which, among other things, was out to seek the support of the Cameroon government to open the second representation of the US Graduate School USDA in Cameroon after that of Cotonou. It is imperative given Cameroon's strategic geographical situation and its bilingualism. This mission was received by the Presidency of the Republic and a number of ministers.

The AGOA Law was voted by the US Congress in 2000, permitting eligible African countries to export their products to the United States duty free. The AGOA Training Centre - an extension of the American Graduate school, USDA was thus created in 2001 in Cotonou, Republic of Benin to educate and train potential African business partners on the complexities of the requirements of the American market. The US Graduate School USDA was created in 1921, and the programmes of the school are now being taught through the AGOA Training Centre in Cotonou. This centre is sharing at moment more than 1,500 training programmes with the American Graduate school USDA under the banner, "knowledge is a must".

The AGOA Training Centre has designed training programmes to enable small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa to develop marketable products, export strategies and business partnership that meet the quality standards required by the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Latest AGOA Trade Data on AGOA.info

Click here to view a sector profile of Cameroon’s bilateral trade with the United States, disaggregated by total exports and imports, AGOA exports and GSP exports.

Other regularly updated trade statistics on AGOA.info include: