AGOA - African Growth and Opportunity Act

The objectives of the subject “African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)” are the following:

1. To understand the aims of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)
2. To evaluate the admission criteria by country and product eligibility
3. To understand the general rules of origin for textiles under the AGOA
4. To analyse the access to the U.S. market for the African products under the AGOA
5. To know the trade agreements between the African Countries and the United States (COMESA, UEMOA, EAC)
6. To analyse the international trade between the African Countries and the United States

Description: African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a U.S. Trade Act that considerably enhances the United States Market Access for forty Sub-Saharan African Countries.

The countries eligible for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) are Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eswatini (Swaziland), Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.

The countries not eligible for the AGOA are Zimbabwe and Sudan.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) passed as a part of the Trade and Development Act (2000) provides to the beneficiary countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with the most liberal access to the United States Market available to any nation or region with which the United States do not have a free trade agreement (FTA).

The AGOA strengthen the African reform efforts, provides an improved access to the United States, credit, and technical expertise, and create a high-level dialogue on foreign trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the form of a United States-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Forum.

The Africa Investment Incentive Act (2006) amends parts of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and is referred to as “AGOA IV.” The AGOA extends GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) for eligible Sub-Saharan African beneficiaries.

United States-Africa Trade

Since its beginning in 2000, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has contributed to the increasing of the foreign trade with Africa and diversify the range of exported products.

1. Total international trade between the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa augmented 37% (USD 60.6 billion)
2. The United States total exports to Africa reach 22% to USD 10.3 billion, with remarkable gains in the agricultural products, machinery, and international transport equipment
3. The United States total imports (AGOA and non-AGOA) from Africa augmented by 40% to USD 50.3 billion, mostly owing to an increase in the petrol imports
4. The United States imports from the Sub-Saharan African Countries under the AGOA (including its GSP dispositions) were USD 38 billion
5. Non-petrol AGOA trade decreased by 16%, to USD 2.9 billion. Principally owing to declines in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) apparel imports (USD 1.4 billion, down 12%), minerals and metals (USD 493 million, down 32%), and transport equipment (USD 273 million, down 49%)

Bilateral investment treaty (US-African Countries): Rwanda, Mozambique, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Cameroon.

Trade and Investment Framework Agreements (TIFA): Angola, Ghana, Liberia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC), and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) belongs to the:

1. African Civilisation
2. North American area of the Western Civilisation.

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