US hints at free trade agreement to follow Agoa

THE UNITED States is looking towards a free trade agreement with those African countries active under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa), which would be the next logical step in South Africa's trade partnership with the United States, says US trade representative Robert Zoellick. During a visit to South Africa, Kenya and Botswana last week to encourage trade under Agoa, Zoellick said free trade was about economic and political liberty. "The groundwork has been laid for a future free trade agreement," he said. The US government, he said, saw South Africa as the cornerstone of regional development and was in favour of schemes that would encourage trade and foreign investment in Africa. While in Johannesburg Zoellick attended the signing of an agreement between the US Trade and Development Agency (TDA) and a South African company, Rainbow Millennium, which will see TDA donate R6million to explore the feasibility of clean energy from the 55million tons of waste coal generated in South Africa every year.