Uganda has failed to fully exploit the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), a US tariff and quota free initiate, Moses Byaruhanga, the presidential advisor on political affairs, has said.

Byaruhanga said the Government was expanding market to increase employment.

"Apparels Tri-Star, the leading beneficiary of AGOA, has employed only 2,000 people. Other firms have failed to command regular production to exploit the vast American markets," he said.

Byaruhanga , who was on Saturday addressing Mukono Christian University students at Bishop Nkoyoyo Hall, said the Government had also provided loans to boost the private sector.

He said unlike the defunct Entandikwa scheme initiated in 1997, the Government would establish a supervisory body to ensure that beneficiaries pay back timely.

"The Government suffered a sh9b loss through the Entandikwa scheme. It failed because politicians who manned it failed to get back the loans for fear of losing votes.

"This time there will strict supervision to ensure duly and timely payments," Byaruhanga said.

He said priority in acquisition of the loans would go to firms undertaking value addition, saying a ban looms over exports of raw materials.

Latest AGOA Trade Data currently available on AGOA.info


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

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