Editorial
Briefing on the State of Afro-Caribbean Aspects
However, just like AGOA, CBI, which was substantially expanded in 2000 through the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), was only going to be more effective if it was not looked at as a gift from the American people.
With this recent agreement between the U.S. and CARICOM, there’s a chance that the negotiated responsibilities for both parties will be more effective for the lives of the people.
That is why we, wholeheartedly, endorse the spirit of a proposal named the Trans-Atlantic South Partnership. Published by the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Center, the premise of this paper is that the U.S. relationship with Africa must be elevated onto the same plane as that one with the Far East (The TransPacific Partnership – TPP) and the US – European Union Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP).
From this perspective, the U.S. ought to, essentially, recognize that 8 of the world’s fastest growing economies are in sub-Saharan Africa and that the Chinese, the European Union and third countries present a severe challenge to U.S. hegemony if they continue to outpace U.S. investment in the region.
Secondly, its important for the U.S. Congress to not just renew AGOA before its 2015 expiry: AGOA must be enhanced to effectively promote regional integration, to look into commercial agricultural production in Africa – and especially to prevent the European Union from foisting their ‘fatally flawed’ economic partnership agreements (EPAs) on individual African countries.
Regional economic communities like CARICOM and the African Union present the best hope for the respective regions to progress to the next level. It never helps any one of the African or Caribbean nations to negotiate on their own. Besides, many of the American firms – just like other multinational corporations in play – would much rather, do business with 19 countries in one agreement.
Editorial Board | The Habari Network
