African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)

AGOA provides beneficiary countries in sub-Saharan Africa with the most liberal access to the US market available to any country or region with which they do not have a Free Trade Agreement. By creating tangible incentives for African countries to implement economic and commercial reform policies, AGOA contributes to better market opportunities and stronger commercial partners in Africa for US companies. The Act is intended to help forge stronger commercial ties between Africa and the United States, while facilitating the integration of Africa into the global economy. However, as the rand has improved and strengthened, manufacturing turnover for exports has dropped and AGOA cannot help the decline in exports. “AGOA recognises the sub-Saharan African region as a place that could benefit from increased trade with the United States, and vice-versa, says Wendy Wilson, senior manager of clothing and textiles at Credit Guarantee. But removing barriers to increase trade will only work if the pricing is right and with the rand being so strong, countries are moving away from buying from SA.