Optimists expect September approval for Agoa III

ALAN PEAT WHILE THE US house of representatives has passed AGOA III - the phase extending the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act until 2015 - there is no certainty that it will get the senate’s approval before the September deadline for the end of AGOA II, according to Standard Bank’s Africa researcher, Henry Flint. There are both pessimistic and optimistic views on this in the US, he told FTW. “There is a fairly widespread feeling that it will not be seen as urgent in face of the elections,” Flint said, “and that it is not likely to pass senate before that date of expiry.” There’s also opposition amongst the US public - some objecting to a possible local loss of jobs because of the act. But the optimistic feel that it will be passed in time, according to Flint. “I think it will be pulled off before September,” he said. “I don’t think they can just drop it, although there is some concern about it.”