World
Extending AGOA Reflects African Exporters Access to US Markets
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
As the geopolitical situation intensifies, with U.S. President Donald Trump imposing huge trade tariffs to either restrict or regulate export transactions to United States, African leaders and entrepreneurs have mounted critical efforts to re-negotiate the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which expires 30th September 2025. Over the past few years, African leaders have been advocating for large-scale structural reforms, financial inadequacies and policy approach by multinational institutions mostly dominated by the United States. Notwithstanding Africa’s huge untapped resources, Africa still looks to United States, multinational financial institutions to savage its economy.
In spite of this consistent criticism over current U.S. policy which has flattened relations with Africa since the ascension of Donald Trump into the White House in Washington, African leaders and exporters are feverishly trying to reaffirm their commitment to deepening their comprehensive strategic trade partnership, desirous to sustain AGOA through which to generate foreign currency incomes to their state coffers. Despite the indelible fact that European and Asian markets are alternatives to explore, African exporters still highly value trade sustainbility with United States. AGOA should promptly be renewed, as it has been the case before, otherwise it would impact so negatively on diverse developments across Africa.
What’s AGOA and Why it Matters for Africa:
AGOA, enacted on 18th May 2000, provides eligible sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the U.S. market, but current due to expire on 30th September 2025. The duty-free access for nearly 40 African countries has boosted development, fostered more equitable and sustainable growth in Africa. By design AGOA is a useful mechanism for improving accessibility to trade competitiveness, connectivity, and productivity. During these past 25 years, AGOA has been the cornerstone of U.S. economic engagement with the countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
In the context of the crucial geopolitical changes, many African leaders, corporate executives, and the business community are still searching for mutually beneficial trade partnerships with United States. With the changing times, Africa is also building its muscles towards a new direction since the introduction of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which was officially launched in July 2019. In practical terms, trading started under the AfCFTA from January 2021.
The United States has prioritized the AfCFTA. And AGOA, which offers a trade preference program, perfectly fits into that. It provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for eligible products and trading services from designated sub-Saharan African countries. It was enacted in May 2000 and aims to boost economic growth and development in the region through trade.
Sample Case Studies, Trade Volumes with United States:
U.S. and South Africa signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) as far back as in 2012. The trade agreement establishes a forum for consultative discussions, cooperative work, and possible agreements on a wide range of trade issues, with a special focus on customs and trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, and trade and investment promotion. South Africa trade summary records show that U.S. goods and services trade with South Africa totaled an estimated $26.2 billion in 2024.
For instance, South African Trade Minister Parks Tau has held several talks, with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, these months until September 2025, aimed at maintaining trade relations with United States. South Africa hosts the G20 presidency, and utilizing its G20 presidency as an instrument for negotiating for trade, an opportunity when missed would impavt seriously on South Africa. Many sub-Saharan African countries would face similar fate seriously without AGOA.
With Angola, the first meeting of the United States-Angolan Council on Trade and Investment was held in June 2010 in Luanda. U.S. goods and services trade with Angola totaled an estimated $3.2 billion in 2024. In June 2025, Luanda, capital city of Angola, hosted the U.S.-Africa trade summit. United States has invested in the construction of Lobito highway corridor.
Its neighbouring Central African Republic has U.S. goods and services trade totaled an estimated $74.4 million in 2024. Comparatively, the U.S. goods and services trade with Democratic Republic of Congo totaled an estimated $1.0 billion in 2024, up 8.4 percent ($ 79.1 million) from 2023.
Ethiopia trade summary shows that the U.S. goods and services trade with Ethiopia totaled an estimated $4.3 billion in 2024, up 28.4 percent ($940.2 million) from 2023. Ethiopia has the largest of its citizens in the United States.
In the bid to diversify its economy from its dependence on crude oil, which accounts for nearly all the value of exports, Nigeria strives to build its agricultural, mining, and manufacturing sectors, especially in the automotive assembly, cement, textile, and clothing sectors. This has led to talks and negotiations of trade agreements with United States. Nigeria also has large number of its citizens domicile in America. U.S. goods and services trade with Ghana totaled an estimated $3.8 billion in 2024, while with Nigeria totaled an estimated $13.0 billion in 2024, up 16.5 percent ($1.8 billion) from 2023. With Tanzania, it totaled an estimated $1.4 billion in 2024.
Key features and benefits of AGOA:
It’s worth reiterating here that during these past several years, AGOA has been the cornerstone of U.S. economic engagement with the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. In this case, as AGOA is closely working with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and with the African Union (AU), trade professionals could primarily leverage various economic sectors and unwaveringly act as bridges between the United States and Africa.
Duty-free Access: AGOA allows eligible products from sub-Saharan African countries to enter the U.S. market without paying tariffs.
Promotion of Economic Growth: The program encourages economic growth by providing incentives for African countries to open their economies and build free markets.
Encouraging Economic Reforms: AGOA encourages economic and political reforms in eligible countries, including the rule of law and market-oriented policies.
Increased Trade and Investment: The program aims to strengthen trade and investment ties between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa.
Economic Growth and Employment Creation: AGOA has been instrumental in creating employment by raising exports. It further encourages raising exports to the United States. In addition, AGOA has helped eligible countries to work towards economic growth across the African continent. It establishes the process of transforming a market-based economy and sets the criteria for diversification and strengthening trade policy interests between the United States and Africa.
Recent Developments: AGOA’s authorization is scheduled to expire in September 2025. The ongoing debates have intensified, with the majority of African leaders calling for its extension. This implies affirmation of United States policy by Africa and its evolving position within the context of multipolarity. The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) has taken robust steps and adopted a fast-tracking approach to rally African leaders and the U.S. Congress to promptly renew AGOA. The CCA, established in 1993, provides unparalleled access to high-level decision-makers, curated networking opportunities, market intelligence, and a platform to shape policy and drive business.
Arguments for U.S.-Africa As Inseparable Biological Twins:
Besides the indelible benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), some African strategists and research analysts indisputably believe that financial remittance flow is definitely one of the surest reliable sources of foreign exchange, depending solely on the dollar currency, to support trade.
In its latest report released in June 2024, the World Bank indicated that, despite the geopolitical uncertainties, instability and challenges, sub-Saharan Africa’s remittance flow reached US$54 billion in 2023. According to World Bank Statistics, remittance inflows to sub-Saharan Africa stood at US$49 billion in 2021.
The U.S.-African Diaspora Factor: Over the years, African leaders have been engaging with their diaspora, especially those excelling in the academia, business, science, technology, engineering, sports and other fields that the continent needs to optimize its diverse potentials and to meet development priorities. These professionals primarily leverage into various sectors, act as bridges between the United States and Africa. Beyond remittances, Africa stands to benefit largely from the input of its diaspora considered as progressive in the United States. Looking ahead for ensuring the trade between the United States and Africa, therefore requires reviewing measures such as trade policy, trade facilitation, productive capacity, trade-related infrastructure, trade finance, trade information and factor-market integration.
In an analytical summary, AGOA is a significant trade policy that has played a crucial role in promoting economic growth and development in sub-Saharan Africa. Beyond that, it is therefore necessary—African leaders, the U.S. government, both U.S. and African trade agencies, the private sector, civil society, and stakeholders—to combine the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) as the cornerstone in strengthening a new path towards economic partnership with Africa. The logical AGOA extension is unreservedly supported by the African Union (AU) and Regional Economic Blocs. The tremendous growing potential of African Diaspora and its inseparable cultural involvement in trade and economic sectors makes it an imperative life-wire for prompt extension and the sustainability of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Donald Trump has been leading the United States as its president since January 2025. Washington’s priority is to Make America Great Again (MAGA). Trump’s tariffs have rippled many economies from Latin America through Asian region to the continent of Africa. Trump’s Davos speech has explicitly revealed building a ‘new world order’ based on dominance rather than trust. He has also initiated whirlwind steps to annex Greenland, while further created the Board of Peace, aimed at helping end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and to oversee reconstruction. Trump is handling the three-year old Russia-Ukraine crisis, and other deep-seated religious and ethnic conflicts in Africa.
These emerging trends, at least in a considerable short term, are influencing BRICS which has increased its geopolitical importance, and focusing on uniting the countries in the Global East and Global South. From historical records, BRICS, described as non-western organization, and is loosing its coherence primarily due to differences in geopolitical interests and multinational alignments, and of course, a number of members face threats from the United States while there are variations of approach to the emerging worldwide perceptions.
In this conversation, deputy director of the Center for African Studies at Moscow’s National Research University High School of Economics (HSE), Vsevolod Sviridov, expresses his opinions focusing on BRICS agenda under India’s presidency, South Africa’s G20 chairmanship in 2024, and genegrally putting Africa’s development priorities within the context of emerging trends. Here are the interview excerpts:
What is the likely impact of Washington’s geopolitics and its foreign policy on BRICS?
From my perspective, the current Venezuela-U.S. confrontation, especially Washington’s tightened leverage over Venezuelan oil revenue flows and the knock-on effects for Chinese interests, will be read inside BRICS as a reminder that sovereign resources can still be constrained by financial chokepoints and sanctions politics. This does not automatically translate into BRICS taking Venezuela’s side, but it does strengthen the bloc’s long-running argument for more resilient South-South trade settlement, diversified energy chains, and financing instruments that reduce exposure to coercive measures, because many African and other developing economies face similar vulnerabilities around commodities, shipping, insurance, and correspondent banking. At the same time, BRICS’ expansion makes consensus harder: several members maintain significant ties with the U.S., so the most likely impact is a technocratic push rather than a loud political campaign.
And highlighting, specifically, the position of BRICS members (South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt, as well as its partnering African States (Nigeria and Uganda)?
Venezuela crisis urges African members to demand that BRICS deliver usable financial and trade tools. For South Africa, Ethiopia, and Egypt, the Venezuela case is more about the precedent: how quickly external pressure can reshape a country’s fiscal room, debt dynamics, and even investor perceptions when energy revenues and sanctions compliance collide. South Africa will likely argue that BRICS should prioritize investment, industrialization, and trade facilitation. Ethiopia and Egypt, both debt-sensitive and searching for FDI, will be especially attentive to anything that helps de-risk financing, while avoiding steps that could trigger secondary-sanctions anxieties or scare off diversified investors.
Would the latest geopolitical developments ultimately shape the agenda for BRICS 2026 under India’s presidency?
India’s 2026 chairmanship is already framed around “Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” and Venezuela’s shock (paired with broader sanction/market-volatility lessons) will likely sharpen the resilience part. From an African perspective, that is an opportunity: South Africa, Ethiopia, and Egypt can press India to translate the theme into deliverables that matter on the ground: food and fertilizer stability, affordable energy access, infrastructure funding. India, in turn, has incentives to keep BRICS focused on economic problem-solving rather than becoming hostage to any single flashpoint. So the Venezuela episode may function as a cautionary case study that accelerates practical cooperation where African members have the most to gain. And I would add: the BRICS agenda will become increasingly Africa-centered simply because Africa’s weight globally is rising, and recent summit discussions have repeatedly highlighted African participation as a core Global South vector. South Africa’s G20 chairmanship last year explicitly framed around putting Africa’s development priorities high on the agenda, further proves this point.
By Adedapo Adesanya
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has has officially terminated its credit rating relationship with Fitch Ratings, indicating friction between both firms.
According to a statement on Friday, the Cairo-based African lender said the decision follows a review of the relationship, and its firm belief that the credit rating exercise no longer reflects a good understanding of the bank’s Establishment Agreement, its mission, and its mandate.
“Afreximbank’s business profile remains robust, underpinned by strong shareholder relationships and the legal protections embedded in its Establishment Agreement, signed and ratified by its member states,” the statement added.
Business Post reports that Fitch had cut Afreximbank’s credit rating to one notch above ‘junk’ Status last year and currently has it on a ‘negative outlook’, which is a rating agency’s terminology for another downgrade warning.
Lower rating means higher borrowing costs for Afreximbank, which could directly impact its ability to lend and the low rates at which it does so.
Recall that Fitch in its report published in June 2025, had estimated Afreximbank’s non-performing loans at 7.1 per cent by the end of 2024, exceeding Fitch’s 6 per cent “high risk” threshold.
The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) contested Fitch’s assessment and argued that Fitch confused loan restructuring requests from South Sudan, Zambia, and Ghana by considering them as defaults, claiming this was inconsistent with the 1993 treaty establishing Afreximbank.
African policymakers have raised worries about the ratings by foreign rating agencies like Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P among others. This has increased call for an African focused agency, which is expected to have commenced but continues to face delays.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
The geopolitical situation and the economic architecture are rapidly changing, creating new conditions for Russia to get committed to the ideals of a multipolar world, President Vladimir Putin said at a ceremony to receive diplomatic credentials from newly appointed foreign ambassadors in Alexandrovsky Hall of the Bolshoi Kremlin Palace.
“Our country has always pursued and will continue to pursue a weighted, constructive foreign policy course that takes into account both Russia’s national interests and the objective global development trends. With all partners interested in cooperation, we are set to maintain truly open and mutually beneficial relations, deepening ties in politics, economy, and humanitarian sphere,” Putin emphasized in his speech.
For Putin, Russia is ready to work with countries that are strategic partners, with whom it is united by friendship, cooperation and mutual support and with whom it is ready to work together in international business structure.
In the Kremlin was a large group of ambassadors from African countries: Somalia, Gabon, Senegal, Rwanda, Mauritania, Algeria, Ghana and Namibia who Putin received in the official ceremony, noted particularly that “Russia is connected with all the states of the continent by the relationship of genuine partnership, support and mutual benefit.”
According to him, the foundations of these relationships were laid back during the struggle of African peoples for freedom and political independence. And Russia has made a significant contribution to the liberation of African countries from colonial rule, contributed tremendously to attaining their statehood, and to the development of national economies, social sphere, and training and education.
Russia was and remains committed to such approaches and is ready to restore the necessary level of relations. With heightening of new global trends, Russia invariably aims to expand mutual political, economic and humanitarian contacts. Russia will continue to provide assistance to Africans in their quest for development, for active participation in international affairs.
These issues were discussed at the Russian-African summits in Sochi and St. Petersburg, at the meeting of the Russian-African Foreign Ministers’ Partnership Forum in Cairo, Egypt. Russia and Africa are both preparing to hold this year’s regular, the third Russia-Africa summit.
In general, Russia is open to mutually beneficial cooperation with all countries. And naturally, are interested in making the activity of each of the ambassadors as effective as possible. With useful initiatives proposed by ambassadors will receive support from the Russian leadership, executive authorities, entrepreneurs and civil society. “Let me wish you success and all the best in your work,”concluded Putin.
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