The United States ambassador to Tanzania Mr Alfonso Lenhardt yesterday urged people, especially women, to exploit market potentials offered under the African Growth Opportunity Act (Agoa) before it comes to an end.

He warned that Congress would most probably cancel the arrangement if it comes to its attention that no one was interested to exploit the opportunity.

Agoa was mainly intended to boost African textile and apparel sales to the US by providing duty-free access for those products for countries that met US political and economic criteria.

However, like many other countries in the region, Tanzania has not exhausted opportunities provided under the Act.

“Agoa is still alive, and I would like to see Tanzania and other African countries utilising all the opportunities under the arrangement before it expires,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after visiting the ongoing 34th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair that started early in the week.

The ambassador said although US was willing to continue supporting the business community in the country by extending different grants, it was high time that traders exploit the potentials of Agoa for boosting the living standards and national economy.

Available data shows that US imports under Agoa in 2008 totalled $66.3 billion (about Sh72 trillion).

With him, was the economic and commercial officer from US embassy, Ms Emily Shaffer, who said that the country had surplus cotton and farmers would benefit if more cotton manufacturing plants were built and employ many people.

She said with the East African Community common market, traders would unite and build capacity to supply the required quantities, the criteria that usually fail many.

“Textile traders are challenged by their capacity to supply to the US market due to infrastructure and energy problems,” she said.

Tanzania has only one manufacturing plant that processes cotton used to manufacture tennis shirts used by the famous tennis player, Venus Williams.

Analysts outside the US government agree that Agoa did produce significant gains for Africa in the first five years after the preferential trade programme was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on May 18, 2000.

The theory was that the development of a textile manufacturing sector could power an overall economic takeoff in Africa just as it had occurred decades earlier in East Asia.

Meanwhile, the ambassador has commended women participating in this year’s trade fair saying that their work was suitable for the American market.

And he urged the government and everyone to continue empowering them and value their creativity, energy and endeavours.

Latest AGOA Trade Data currently available on AGOA.info


Click here to view a sector profile of Tanzania'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: (click each link to view)