Namibia has launched an African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) utilisation strategy to increase its exports under the Agoa programme, which allows the country to export over 6 400 products tariff free to the United States.
This joint effort to develop the strategy is part of United States efforts to expand mutually beneficial trade with Namibia and is a collaboration between the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade and other stakeholders, including the Namibian private sector, with support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The strategy provides a prioritised roadmap on how Namibia can increase its exports to the US under Agoa duty-free market access and recommends steps to address the policy, supply, and market challenges faced by potential Namibian exporters. A body comprising private and public sector representatives will drive the implementation of the strategy.
It identifies priority sectors and categorises them into short-term (e.g., beef and fish, semi-precious stones, grapes, dates, devil’s claw), medium-term (e.g., specialty foods/organic pearl millet products, handicrafts, leather products), and long-term (e.g., indigenous natural products) export potential.
Ambassador Johnson said exports through Agoa would provide entrepreneurs with a chance to revive firms that had suffered heavily as a result of the Covid pandemic and recession, while also providing much-needed employment to help revitalise the economy.
