AGOA Forum Offers An Opportunity to Chart a Way Forward in Boosting AGOA Exports
This week, leaders from the U.S. and African governments, private sector, and civil society will gather from November 2-4, for the 20th U.S.-sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, to discuss a forward vision for deepening trade and investment ties between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa while boosting exports under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
This year’s AGOA Forum comes at a pivotal time as AGOA, a cornerstone of the United States’ trade relationship with sub-Saharan Africa, is set to expire in 2025.
The world is very different from when AGOA was first enacted in 2000. Today, Africa is home to the world’s fastest growing economies, an increasingly young, urban, and digitally connected population. The continent offers tremendous growth opportunities for shared prosperity.
Prosper Africa is working in partnership to find new approaches and expanded outreach efforts required to ensure that more African companies in eligible countries can take full advantage of AGOA.
Through AGOA and the Generalized System of Preferences program (GSP) the U.S. government provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for over 6,800 products. This duty-free access currently gives 35 AGOA-eligible countries enormous economic potential to strengthen trade relations with the U.S. and has helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs and economic opportunities across Africa.
Prosper Africa and AGOA
To boost AGOA utilization rates, the U.S. government’s Prosper Africa offers a suite of Continental Services for African businesses to tap into the opportunities that AGOA offers under the U.S. trade preference program.
From access to trained AGOA advisers to webinars and toolkits on sector-specific AGOA requirements, Prosper Africa and its partners are providing resources and tools needed to make it easier, more effective, and more productive for companies in the U.S. and Africa to do business.
The Prosper Africa Buyer-Supplier Network is connecting thousands of African buyers to U.S. suppliers to increase African exports into the United States and expand supply chain operations on the continent. For every $1 of U.S. Government funding, these partnerships will catalyze at least $15 in private investment.
Looking Ahead: The AGOA Forum
The AGOA Forum Private Sector Dialogue, being held on November 2, will allow African governments and private sector leaders to weigh in on the way forward to improve and accelerate exports under AGOA and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
AGOA has proven to be a mutually beneficial trade program – and American companies are taking notice. By incentivizing African governments to undertake political and economic reforms under AGOA, U.S. companies benefit from attractive business environments, labor laws, and responsible business practices in eligible countries that adhere to these standards.