By Danilo Desiderio African governments can mobilize overnight to serve a foreign trade partner. Yet they stall for years when asked to integrate with each other....
By Fidel Amakye Owusu Economic inequality remains the defining fault line of African political stability – and the world’s emerging powers are taking notice. For a...
By Ziad Hamoui Three months of uncertainty revealed what reliance on non-reciprocal arrangements truly costs the continent. The US House of Representatives approved the African Growth...
By Sheena Raikundalia US President Trump’s decision to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act through December 2026 has sparked jubilation in Nairobi. But beneath the...
By Gregory Simpkins Throughout 2025, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was considered dead. Legislation extending the trade process failed to get passed in late...
By Danilo Desiderio Africa’s biggest trade vision, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), is gathering momentum – but not because policymakers willed it so. It...
By JP Følsgaard Bak Last week, I attended what felt like the funeral of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) – not in a chapel,...
By Gregory Simpkins I have been associated with the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) since House staffer Mike Williams wrote the first draft. I worked...
By Danilo Desiderio For decades, Africa has been described in the same breath: a “continent of potential.” It’s a phrase often delivered with optimism – but...
By Godfred Zina As global powers intensify their competition for influence across Africa, the United States is redefining its approach to the continent – not through...
By Gregory Simpkins US President Donald Trump appears to be more determined than ever to pursue his international tariff policies, even through the several reversals of...
By Gregory Simpkins After the recent conclusion of the US-China trade negotiations, US President Donald Trump praised the agreement reached on social media as “a great...
By Mary Alorh The year 2025 will likely be remembered as a pivotal moment in global trade, marked by escalating trade wars and the strategic use...
By Mary Alorh In today’s fiercely competitive global landscape, opportunity often emerges where others have failed – and nowhere is this more evident than in the...
By Mark-Anthony Johnson Over the past two decades, a dramatic shift has reshaped Africa’s trade landscape. In 2003, just 18 African countries – about 35 percent...
By Gregory Simpkins At the outset of the current Trump administration, it was widely believed that his transactional mindset would facilitate US-Africa trade and boost both...
By Dishant Shah Since its inception in 2000, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has stood as one of the cornerstone trade programs fostering economic...
By Emmanuel Musaazi Trump is back with a bang. But the crucial question remains: Were any lessons learned from Trump 1.0? Is Africa prepared to engage...
By Danilo Desiderio A recent article published by Semafor raises concerns about the future of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a trade agreement that...
By Gregory Simpkins When Donald Trump won re-election as President last November, there were some in Africa and the Diaspora who expressed continued bitterness over his...
By Gregory Simpkins The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has long enjoyed bipartisan support, but partisan squabbles appear to have doomed its long-term extension during the...
By JP Følsgaard Bak An old Danish saying goes: “It is difficult to predict, especially about the future.” This humorous yet insightful remark holds much truth....
By Gregory Simpkins When President Joe Biden promised during the December 2022 African Leaders Summit to visit Africa before his term ended, many observers probably thought...
By Gregory Simpkins The pan-African publication African Arguments asked a very pertinent question in its September 10 issue: When will African leaders resist the neocolonial summons?...
By Mary Alorh As Joe Biden concludes his tenure as the 46th President of the United States, it’s an opportune moment to reflect on his administration’s...
By Gregory Simpkins I was blessed to have been involved with the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) from when it was a legislative proposal while...
By Gregory Simpkins After a few years of discussion about what renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) would look like, Senators Chris Coons...
By Gregory Simpkins The global environment is changing at an accelerating pace. The post-World War II arrangements have broken down to be replaced by an emerging...
By Gregory Simpkins In December 2022, the Biden Administration convened a summit with African governmental leaders, as well as African and American businesspeople and civil society...
By Gregory Simpkins Since its signing into law in 2000, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been the main trade program for the United...
By Gregory Simpkins At the recent 123rd National Black Business Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, I told a panel audience that I have been blessed to be...
By Gregory Simpkins In my time in and out of the U.S. government, I have seen and heard much about the value of women entrepreneurs. Years...
By Gregory Simpkins A century ago, Jamaican Diaspora leader Marcus Garvey established what he hoped would be a global economic partnership between the Africa Diaspora in...
By John J Stremlau China’s foreign ministry published a 4,000-word analysis entitled US Hegemony and its Perils on 20 February. It’s an indictment of alleged US...
By Gregory Simpkins Now that the New Year is upon us, we in the African Diaspora need to plan for joint action to better ensure that...
Reuters | The duty-free access for nearly 40 African countries in a 22-year-old U.S. trade program is no longer enough to boost their development and a...
Bloomberg | The US’s resolve to claw back lost influence in Africa will be put to the test this week when dozens of the continent’s leaders...
By Gregory Simpkins I count myself blessed to have been involved in the creation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and nearly a dozen...
By Dennis Matanda The expression “tenacious contention” suggests that China and the United States are at an impasse after a dogged battle for the position of...
By Gregory Simpkins On May 30, 2019, the framework agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) entered into force, But this continental body still...
"Chinese investments in Africa are “going on very well. The next thing I would ask from them is to allow our products to enter their market...
South Africa and the United States have failed to agree on key parts of a trade agreement on the importation of poultry and pork, with the...
South Africa is fighting to retain duty-free access for exports to the United States worth as much as US$1.7 billion a year in a dispute that...
By Frank Sieren U.S. President Barack Obama cannot do much more in Africa. Asia, especially China, is so far ahead that the United States won’t be...
By David Shipley Good ideas sometimes die not from opposition but from mere neglect. Case in point: the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). This is...
Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee For the past 15 years, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been the thing...
By Erastus Mwencha A few days ago, in meetings with both members of the United States Congress and the Obama Administration, each of the officials reaffirmed...
Basis for Proposal Amendments Paul Ryan, Orin Hatch and Michael Froman are saying things that could mean that the 114th Congress and the two last years...
By Emmanuel Musaazi When I caught a glimpse of Uganda’s Draft AGOA National Response Strategy, my patriotic heart soared. I was, especially, proud that Uganda has...
Sometime last year, a high-ranking Ugandan Minister sent an email to a contact in a United States Agency. Like any good college alumni, Mr. Minister had...
This past January, with the 15-year old African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) program set to expire in September, the African Union dispatched a high-powered delegation...
Liberata Mulamula says that for a market access program like African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to benefit a country like Tanzania, it must, first and...
“This trade and investment deal or partnership between these United States and an African country like Malawi where I am from really comes down to women...
Let’s make it crystal clear: If the United States does not give Africa the kind of preferences program the continent badly requires, do not blame the...
Last week, in what can only be considered a historical feat, the African Union dispatched a delegation of African Ministers of Trade to Washington, D.C. to...
Stephen Lande is, probably, the foremost expert on preference programs. In other words, Mr. Lande understands the essence of other countries being provided market access to...
Editor’s Note: One of the best things about Katrin is how much heart she has. Not only does she care deeply about the things she does;...
Editor’s Note: Dr. Schneidman’s article was published both on the Brookings Institution website and also at www.agoa.info. But what should be most instructive is how the...
By Stephen Lande and Loulou Geboers After more than 50 years of doing trade policy, my thoughts are now crystallized around the ideal partnership between the...
By Eyob Tekalign Africa has undergone a remarkable transformation. Yes, the truth is that most countries have not been able to take advantage of AGOA; not...
Apparel and footwear, but especially footwear, are among the U.S. industries that have benefited most from the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Now that AGOA is about to...
AGOA allows 6,400 products from eligible Sub-Saharan African countries to enter the United States duty free. In 2013, according to US Department of Commerce, United States...
The United States has committed itself to attracting investment and aiding several African countries in reducing their electricity deficit. “Power Africa is designed to catalyze new...
The high cost of doing business in Kenya’s local textile industry is becoming a local and international investment deterrent. Rajeev Arora, executive director at Africa Cotton...
Over the next three weeks, the Editorial Team here at The Habari Network is going to be busier than a hive of bees. Not only are...
Africa’s top trading partners. COURTESY/U.S. Senator Chris Coons According to Standard & Poor’s, the U.S. government shutdown ‘… shaved at least 0.6 percent off of annualized fourth-quarter...
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. PHOTO/File By Stephen Lande & Dennis Matanda | Just like Kenya deftly managed a post-inferno crisis that shut down its international airport...
Ask anyone with insider knowledge of Africa’s regional economic communities – and they will tell you that most of the issues keeping Africa apart are not...
By Carlos Lopes and Kemal Dervis Everyone stands to gain if Africa can sustain and accelerate its progress in tackling poverty and finding jobs for its...
It is a longstanding policy of the United States to grant preferential trade deals to developing countries, in order to promote good relationships and to support...
In a thorough first-of-its-kind study, the Brookings Institution made an excellent point: The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) of 2000 has always had an excellent...
As if the task to generate a more effective African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was not arduous enough, a bill (S. 1331) to extend the...
A Group of ACP Country Delegates – Courtesy of the World Bank Just last week, in what was termed ‘the first official high-level structured dialogue between...
Over the next few weeks, various U.S. based bodies – Brookings Institution, Woodrow Wilson Center and the Corporate Council for Africa – will emerge with reports...
Florie Liser, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa 10:00 a.m. – March 11, 2013 By Dennis Matanda With the flair of a seasoned storyteller, Stephen Lande...
A younger Barack Obama with his grandmother during his first trip to Africa to visit the family of his father, Barack Obama, Sr. PHOTO/Maya Soetoro-Ng The...
By Stephen Lande + Dennis Matanda In September 2012, just as the 3rd Country Fabric was about to expire, the non controversial African Growth and Opportunity...
The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which allows certain African exports to enter the US quota and duty free, has been a great boon to...
Author’s Note | November 23, 2012: An 800 word editorial for The Habari Network morphed into longer commentary following comments from economic policy and trade doyens....
Washington DC is the capital city of the world’s biggest economy. It is also the place many countries come to make or break themselves. Some African...
Small businesses can launch or resume commercial activities with Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Guinea and Niger now that President Obama has restored trade preferences and other...
