SA alone realises full Agoa benefit

JOY ORLEK SOUTH AFRICA is the only country in Africa that has come close to realising Agoa’s full potential, in the view of assistant US trade representative for Africa, Florizelle Liser, quoted on agoa.com Speaking at a recent seminar in Washington titled ‘Agoa five years later: lessons learned, challenges ahead,’ she said that a broad array of product lines - such as footwear and fresh and frozen vegetables and light manufacturing - were still under-represented on the continent-wide Agoa export list. She reminded everyone that the US Agency for International Development, had established trade hubs, with Agoa advisers, at strategic points throughout Africa. Liser also cited President Bush’s African Global Competitiveness Initiative, which was announced at the recent Agoa Forum in Dakar, as another measure to further expand US - Africa trade. That initiative, she said, has a five-year funding target of $200 million in new money to bolster the work of the trade hubs and further promote export diversification. Liser said Agoa had had a “positive impact” not only for African business but for American business as well. From 2000, when Agoa was launched, to 2004, US exports to sub-Saharan Africa increased 44%, she noted. As a direct result of Agoa, she added, many African businesses that had never previously considered the US market were now attending trade shows in the United States - and getting orders. She cited as an example the giant US department store chain known as Macy’s, which has put in a huge order for Rwandan baskets.