Agoa helps secure oil supplies for US

ED RICHARDSON ONE OF the biggest spin-offs for the United States of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) has been access to African oil – which today accounts for around 15% of the petrol going into US fuel tanks. Oil-rich countries and South Africa are the biggest beneficiaries of Agoa which is designed to open the US market for African countries. Americans already get more oil from Africa than from Saudi Arabia. By 2015, oil experts say, African states will supply one-quarter of US imports – 10% more than today. Evidence of this shift came in 2002, when the State Department declared African oil a “strategic national interest,” opening the door for US troops to intervene to protect it. Oil companies have also been investing heavily in Africa. According to the United National Council for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in 2005 African Foreign Direct Investment was 55% higher at US$ 29 billion from US$ 18.7 billion in 2004. Most of the investment was in the oil sector. African crude is light and low in sulphur — which makes it ideal to pollutant-sensitive US refineries. African oil is also closer geographically to the US than that in the Middle East. According to the latest trading statistics, while most AGOA-eligible sub-Saharan countries recorded some exports to the US, the bulk (by value) is concentrated among a relatively small number.