Obama encourages intra-Africa growth

While African countries stand to benefit from America’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), crossborder trade is key to African nations’ growth. That was the message from US President Barack Obama last week week when he told a delegation from the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) visiting the White House in Washington that transportation infrastructure must be improved to make it as easy to sell goods in a neighbouring country as it is to Europe. “Agoa is one of the primary tools we have to promote trade between the United States and many African countries. It’s set to expire but there’s a negotiation process taking place as we speak. More progress will be made next week. I think that we’ve learned some lessons about what works and what doesn’t through the first stage,” Obama said. “In some cases, what we’ve discovered is that many countries can’t get their goods to the market although there are no tariff barriers,” Obama said. It’s about making sure the transport networks are in place, trade financing is in place and looking into other mechanisms that may inhibit exports from African countries, he added. “Much of that is a question of infrastructure. Some of it has to do with coordinating regulatory systems between countries. We’re embarking on some experiments starting in East Africa (with) Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. If I’m a Kenyan businessman, it’s going to be easier for me to sell my goods to a Tanzanian or a Ugandan than it is for me to try to compete with Nike or Apple in the United States,” he said. Ways to move goods between African nations need attention, and the US is committed to assisting with the improvement of transportation arteries, the president said.