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Zambia: Marketing Institute optimistic about June AGOA meeting

Published date:
Monday, 04 April 2011

The Zambia Institute of Marketing (ZIM) says the planned AGOA meeting may trigger fresh investments into the country.

Zambia will host this year’s Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) conference between June 6 and June 8.

The conference is aimed at enhancing market access to the United States by eligible sub-Saharan African countries to export some products on duty-free and quota-free basis.

Commenting on the planned conference, ZIM president David Kombe said the initiative offers the country an opportunity to boost its trade and attract new investments from the US and regional markets.

He said Zambian companies, particularly those in the agriculture and textile industry, had failed to tap into the benefits that the AGOA initiative had provided.

Kombe said while other countries have managed to penetrate the US market, Zambia has continued to lag behind.

Zambia's exports into the US markets have remained minimal compared to other countries despite being among the first countries to penetrate the US markets.

Since the inception of AGOA, Zambia's total exports to the US under the AGOA amounts to US$116 million, while imports account for US$386 million, representing a trade imbalance of US$270 million in favour of the US.

The country's export trends to the US market had grown from US$7.9 million in 2001 to US$25 million in 2008 and that in 2009, exports declined to US$5.3 million due to the effects of the global economic crisis. Kombe said there was need to explore the US market because of its huge demand.

“The US market is a very big market, we are talking of a market of almost 250 million to 300 million people and the benefits that come with such a market cannot be compared with the potential within the region,” he said.

“Countries like Uganda have benefited in terms of exporting their products into the US market, while most of our people have failed to meet the specific product standards to be able to penetrate the US market.”

Kombe said the AGOA meeting would not just offer Zambia an opportunity to explore the US market but also improve on its products.



“ Latest AGOA Trade Data currently available on AGOA.info


Click here to view a sector profile of Zambia'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)

  • AGOA-Beneficiary Countries’ AGOA and GSP Trade Aggregates

  • AGOA Trade by Industry Sector

  • Apparel Trade under AGOA’s Wearing Apparel Provisions

  • Latest Apparel Quotas under AGOA

  • Bilateral Trade Data for all AGOA-eligible countries individually.

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