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East Africa: EAC earns US$202 million from AGOA exports

Published date:
Monday, 09 July 2012

The five partner states of the East African Community (EAC) have in the first six months of 2012 earned $202m from exports to the United States under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) initiative.

AGOA grants up to 97% market access to Africa's exports, as the US seeks a more liberalised African market for its exports.

According to the US Department of Commerce report of June 2012, Burundi's export earnings were $1.7m for the first six months of 2012 although this was a decline from earnings in the first half of 2011 which was $9.5m and $5.6m.

The country's imports from the US were worth $32.4m in the first half of 2011, declined to $7.8m in second half but increased to $9.1m in the first half of 2012. Kenya imported goods worth $447.3m, $121.6m in the first and second halves of 2011 respectively and this has increased to $172.1m in the year 2012, according to the report seen by East African Business Week.

The report however said that Kenya's export earnings were high at $380m.4 in the first half of the year 2011 but declined to $99m in the second half and of recent have increased to $109.4m which are the highest earnings in the region.

The report says that Rwanda in the first half of the year 2011 imported goods from the US worth $118.6m, $9.5m in the second half and reduced to $7.5m in the first half of the year 2012.

However the country's export earnings under AGOA were at $30.8m in the first half of 2011 but reduced to $4.8m in the second half of 2011 but have now grown to $11.7m.

Tanzania is reported to have imported goods worth $251m in the first half of 2011, $77m in the second half and this year's first half the country has imported goods worth $74.3m, the second to Kenya.The report said the country however under the AGOA exported goods worth $58m in the first half of 2011, $28.9m in the second half and this year's first half, the country has so far exported goods worth $64.3m.

Uganda is reported to have imported goods worth $87.2m in the first half of 2011, declined to $33.2m in the second half and increased to $25.6m in the first half of 2012.

The report said that Uganda's export earnings in the first half of 2011 were $46m, $13m in the second half and the first half of 2012 has seen the country earning $15m.

The report however indicates that overall, imports by the United States from the 40 AGOA eligible countries also declined from $71b in the first half of 2011 to $22.2b and further to $15.7b in the first half of 2012.

While total exports by the US to the AGOA countries also declined from $19.2b in the first half of 2011 to $6.4b in the second half and to $6.2b in the first half of 2012.

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