World
South Africa’s AGOA Forum Aims at Strengthening US-Africa Trade Relations
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
South Africa prepares to host the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum to review critical challenges and obstacles adversely impacting trade opportunities and economic cooperation between the United States and Africa. The United States first introduced the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2000. It is the 20th AGOA forum scheduled from November 2 to 4 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The AGOA Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum seeks to expand and deepen trade and investment relationships between the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa. It also encourages regional integration and further reaffirms Africa’s position as a capable economic partner for the world. It aims to promote economic growth, reduce poverty and foster a stronger trade partnership between the United States and African countries.
The Johannesburg forum will also be a follow-up on some of the business pledges taken during the mid-December African leaders summit in Washington. At that meeting, US President Joe Biden allocated $55 billion for various investment projects across Africa. The State Department reports indicated that African countries are looking forward to strengthening trade relations. The White House plans to offer new favourable conditions as well as extend or renew the trade partnership which expires in September 2025.
As well known, AGOA gives eligible sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the United States market for more than 1,800 products and simultaneously creates grounds for trade and commercial services. The majority of African governments and industry groups are pushing for an early 10-year extension without changes in order to reassure business and new investors who might have concerns over AGOA’s future.
South Africa is working to secure renewal and extension of AGOA, including through direct engagement between government and business representatives, as well as with members of the US Senate and Congress across party-political lines. During a recent parliamentary briefing, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel, told Members of Parliament that South Africa’s participation in AGOA benefits neighbouring countries through shared value chains.
Reports indicated that U.S. President Joe Biden would terminate the participation of Gabon, Niger, Uganda and the Central African Republic in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade program.
Biden said he was taking the step because of “gross violations” of internationally recognized human rights by the Central African Republic and Uganda. He also cited Niger and Gabon’s failure to establish or make continual progress toward the protection of political pluralism and the rule of law. Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea have all previously been expelled from AGOA after military coups in those countries.
“Despite intensive engagement between the United States and the Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger, and Uganda, these countries have failed to address United States concerns about their non-compliance with the AGOA eligibility criteria,” Biden said in an official letter to the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Their expulsion from the AGOA trade program is set to take effect from the start of next year (2024) and is likely to impact their economies, as AGOA has been credited with promoting exports, economic growth and job creation among participating countries.
The Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s main opposition party, has waged its own campaign for South Africa to continue participating in AGOA and warned that its exclusion would have a devastating impact on the economy, with the vehicle manufacturing industry among those that would be badly affected.
“Should South Africa’s access to AGOA be revoked as a consequence of its allegiance to Russia, 112,000 jobs in the automotive sector and 435 billion ($23 billion) in automotive trade could be wiped out,” the party said in a statement. “South Africans need to realize that our country’s jobs and the security of our economy are intrinsically linked to trade founded on global alliances.”
South Africa lobbies to retain preferential access to the U.S. market, so the majority of African countries. A number of high-powered delegations, in a bid to defuse tensions over its relations with Russia, have visited Washington. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has spoken with US lawmakers and heavily lobbied for South Africa to retain its eligibility to export goods duty-free to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
The United States currently seeks to build on its existing economic and trade relations with Africa, especially in this fast-changing geopolitical situation. Without much criticism, AGOA has helped during these years in supporting a fledgling manufacturing sector in industrial parks, it has had a meaningful impact in sectors like Ethiopia’s and Kenya’s textile industry and South Africa’s automotive industry.
The United States has been gearing up so as not to lose its economic influence across Africa. South Africa’s trade amounted to an estimated $25.5 billion in 2022. Exports were $9.3 billion, imports were $16.2 billion. The U.S. goods and services trade deficit with South Africa was $6.9 billion in 2022.
Research also shows that since 2021, the U.S. Government has helped close more than 800 two-way trade and investment deals across 47 African countries for a total estimated value of over $18 billion, and the U.S. private sector has closed investment deals in Africa valued at $8.6 billion. U.S. goods and services traded with Africa totalled $83.6 billion in 2021.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, ahead of the Africa Growth Opportunity Act forum in Johannesburg, has expressed optimism that AGOA, which provides preferential trade arrangements for sub-Saharan African countries with the United States, would be renewed by the Congress. And of course, members of the U.S. Congress want to see AGOA benefits shared widely and used to create good-paying jobs across Sub-Saharan Africa.
At previous high-level engagements, there was consensus to extend AGOA beyond 2025. The suggestion has been tabled before the US Administration. United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai, is committed to robust trade and economic collaboration with Sub-Saharan Africa.
During one of the meetings, Ambassador Katherine Tai, the African Ministers, and the Africa Group of Ambassadors underscored the following:
* An extension of AGOA for at least ten years with the inclusion of African countries.
* The importance of Africa speaking with One Voice in all US-Africa trade and investment engagements.
* Enhanced commercial diplomacy between the US and Africa. There was also agreement that South Africa would host the next AGOA forum this year 2023.
Most United States enterprises are banking to explore the single continental market, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). As a corporate project initiated by the African Union (AU), it has the potential to unite more than 1.4 billion people in a $2.5 trillion economic bloc. It has the potential to generate a range of benefits through supporting trade creation, structural transformation, productive employment and poverty reduction. The AfCFTA opens up more opportunities for both local African and foreign investors from around the world.
Corporate Council on Africa, which is a leading reputable American business association, told me that the main focus is to increase US-Africa trade and investment. It further characterized the forum as a platform to highlight the progress made across sectors of Africa’s economy, including expanding opportunities in agriculture, industry and manufacturing, technology, health, agribusiness, tourism and financial services.
Corporate Council on Africa has assisted the government in contracting deals closed more than 800 two-way trade and investment deals across 47 African countries for a total estimated value of over $18 billion, and the American private sector has closed investment deals in the continent valued at $8.6 billion since 2021.
The African Union (AU) spearheads Africa’s development and integration in close collaboration with the individual countries on the continent, with the Regional Economic Communities and African citizens. With its vision to accelerate progress towards an integrated Africa, it works closely with the United States. Most importantly, the United States has more room for manoeuvring with its institutional instruments. It now works closely with AU’s AfCFTA. On the other side, Africans flexibly visit the United States more often than anywhere else in the world.
The AU has its representative office facilitating and coordinating activities and business interests in Washington. The White House and the Biden-Harris administration have been prioritizing comprehensive multifaceted relationships with various countries across Africa. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to strengthening US-Africa trade and commercial relations and engaging Congress on the next steps for AGOA.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
One year after launching a continental initiative designed to make excellence in public governance the foundation of a new drive to transform Africa, LEAD, the Africa CEO Forum’s pan-African leadership programme, takes stock of its first cohort and announces the launch of its second class. Built around a community of senior public decision-makers committed to modernising the state and to the continent’s digital transformation, this new cohort gathers for three days, from 28 to 30 August 2026, on the campus of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Rabat, Morocco.
A second cohort that confirms the programme’s durability
For its second class, LEAD brings together 50 fellows, senior public decision-makers engaged in the design and implementation of the continent’s economic and social policies. Over three days, participants take part in collective and collaborative working sessions, peer exchanges and meetings with figures from the public, business and academic spheres, in order to compare their practices and build shared responses to the major challenges of governance.
Speakers include Mehdi Jomaa, former Head of Government of Tunisia, Donald Kaberuka, Managing Partner & Founder, SouthBridge Group, and former President of the African Development Bank, Serge Ekue, President of the West African Development Bank (BOAD), Sanjay Jain, co-creator of India Stack and Director of Digital Public Infrastructure, Gates Foundation, and Mauricio Cardenas, Professor of Professional Practice in Global Leadership, Columbia SIPA, and former Finance Minister of Colombia (2012-2018).
They share their reform experience, their public policy trade-offs and their view of continental priorities. Throughout the programme, the cohort benefits from the dedicated support of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Asafo & Co, BOAD, BCG and the African Development Bank, LEAD partners that have chosen to invest in the transformation of African public action.
LEAD, a pan-African community serving public action
Created by the AFRICA CEO FORUM, LEAD is a leadership programme whose ambition is to reposition Africa’s administrative elite as a driver of reform, of performance and of dialogue with all the continent’s stakeholders.
Designed for senior African public decision-makers, LEAD sets out to build a lasting community of public officials able to share their experience, compare their practices and build common solutions to the major economic, technological and institutional transformations under way in Africa. That community is structured around three pillars: modernizing the state, improving public services, and strengthening cooperation between governments, development institutions and private-sector players.
From fellows to alumni: a long-term initiative
Made up of 36 fellows drawn from a range of administrations and institutions and representing 24 countries across the continent, LEAD’s first cohort demonstrated the quality and the potential of this community from its very first year. In less than twelve months, six of its members have taken a significant step forward: two have been appointed ministers, two have moved into strategic positions at the highest level of the state and two have been promoted to chief executive roles. These moves, which account for 16.7% of the first class, show the role LEAD plays as an accelerator of impact within African administrations.
By bringing together a new cohort of fellows every year, each of them joining the LEAD alumni community, the initiative follows a long-term trajectory: in time, to unite several hundred African public decision-makers around a shared culture of transparency, performance and regional cooperation.
A first year devoted to public service and digital public infrastructure
Throughout the year, the fellows devoted their work to strengthening African public action, to make excellence in public governance a central lever of transformation. An awareness campaign, run as part of Africa Public Service Day, brought to light those who, within the continent’s administrations and institutions, are concretely transforming public policy and improving the services offered to citizens.
Members of the cohort also took part in a special round table held in Kigali during the ACF 2026, in order to carry their thinking to a wider community of public and private leaders. That forum reinforced LEAD’s role as a platform for dialogue between the administrative elite and the continent’s economic players. Digital public infrastructure (DPI) formed the main thread of this first year of work.
Discussions covered issues at the heart of the digital sovereignty of African states: digital identity, payments, secure data exchange, interoperability, governance and the protection of citizens. This work examined the conditions under which African states are developing, in some cases, and can develop, in others, shared, open infrastructure robust enough to improve the quality of public services while supporting local innovation and preserving the capacity of public authorities to set the rules of the game.
A white paper to move from consuming technology to creating value
This year of work concludes with the publication, in collaboration with BCG, LEAD’s Knowledge Partner, of a white paper on Africa’s place in the digital economy and in artificial intelligence. With the digital economy still accounting for around 5% of African GDP, against close to 15% worldwide, the paper calls on the continent to shift from a logic of technology consumption to one of value creation.
The white paper identifies three structuring priorities for African public actors:
- Building shared digital infrastructure that serves as the backbone of public services and private innovation.
- Pooling investment in order to reach critical mass and avoid the fragmentation of efforts across the continent.
- Favouring open and interoperable architectures, with trust and governance built in by design, so as to protect citizens while stimulating the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The white paper is available here to all public decision-makers, technical partners and institutions concerned.
“LEAD’s first cohort confirms a simple conviction: Africa already has the women and men capable of profoundly transforming public action. Our responsibility, either with our partners, is to give them, at pan-African level, a space in which to compare experience, build common solutions and bring forward a new generation of public policy. With this second cohort, we want to accelerate the move from ambition to execution, in particular on digital public infrastructure and artificial intelligence, two decisive issues for sovereignty, for the effectiveness of the state and for value creation across the continent,” says Amir Ben Yahmed, President of the Africa CEO Forum.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Africa is set to make history as it hosts the World Public Summit for the first time, with Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, welcoming global leaders and changemakers from July 29–30, 2026, for the landmark gathering under the theme “New World: Africa in Shaping a Shared Future.”
The inaugural African edition of the World Public Summit marks a significant milestone in the continent’s growing role in shaping international dialogue on governance, sustainable development, human-centred leadership and global cooperation.
Hosted by the World Peoples Assembly in partnership with African and international organisations, the summit will convene government officials, diplomats, business leaders, academics, journalists, youth representatives, civil society organisations and cultural leaders from across Africa and around the world.
According to Andrey Belyaninov, General Secretary of the World Peoples Assembly, “the Summit is not just a meeting—it is a space for unity. A space where the ‘values that unite us’ come to life: respect for people, openness to the world, responsibility for the future, and a commitment to creation.
“Today, we understand more clearly than ever: the future cannot be built alone. It is born in dialogue, in trust, in the ability to listen to one another and to act together.”
The programme begins on July 29 with a series of high-level roundtables and expert discussions covering Pan-African economic integration, civil society, education, scientific cooperation, cultural diplomacy and humanitarian partnerships.
The opening plenary, “Values, Development and Partnership as the Basis of a Sustainable and Just World,” will explore how African values—including Ubuntu—can help shape a more inclusive and sustainable global future. Discussions will also focus on youth leadership, innovation, civil society, ethical AI, public initiatives and international partnerships.
The summit will also showcase Africa’s creativity and innovation through the “Innovations for the Future” exhibition, the contemporary African art exhibition “Unity,” and the international exhibition “The World Paints Happiness.”
Another featured initiative is “The Zambezi River: Economy, Society, Soul,” an international interdisciplinary project exploring the river’s socioeconomic importance across Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, highlighting the shared heritage and development potential of one of Africa’s most important waterways.
The event will conclude with the adoption of the African Communiqué, reflecting the summit’s shared vision for stronger international cooperation, sustainable development and people-centred leadership.
Tsegaye Chama, General Secretary of the Global Black Centre, promised that, “The Summit will be delivered with exceptional distinction, reflecting the magnitude and spirit of the World Peoples Assembly. It embodies a unity that is not transactional, but purposeful and conscious, a unity that shapes new contours for a world that works for all peoples of the World.”
As delegates prepare to arrive in Addis Ababa, anticipation continues to build for what promises to be one of Africa’s most significant international gatherings of 2026—one that will place the continent firmly at the centre of global conversations about the future.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria regained its position as Africa’s leading destination for equity startup investment in the first half of 2026, raising $214 million in equity financing and a total of $254 million across equity and debt, according to the latest Africa: The Big Deal report.
The report, titled H1 2026: Mapping the Money, showed that Nigeria ranked second on the continent in total funding, behind Egypt, which attracted $327 million, while Kenya and South Africa followed with $126 million and $83 million, respectively.
However, the report noted that Egypt’s top position was largely driven by a single fundraising by electric mobility company Spiro, which secured $327 million, including $270 million in equity and $57 million in debt. Excluding debt financing, Nigeria emerged as Africa’s largest equity funding market in the first six months of the year.
According to the breakdown by Africa: The Big Deal, Nigeria’s equity funding of $214 million was higher than Egypt’s $183 million, while South Africa and Kenya attracted $66 million and $46 million, respectively.
Beyond funding value, Nigeria also led the continent in the number of startups that raised at least $100,000 during the review period, reclaiming the top spot after what the report described as an “underwhelming” second half of 2025.
The publication observed that Nigeria’s fundraising performance has remained relatively stable over the past few years and exceeded the $250 million mark for the first time since 2022, pointing to renewed investor confidence in the country’s startup ecosystem.
It also found that while the Big Four startup markets—Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa—continued to dominate Africa’s investment landscape, their combined share of total funding stood at 58 per cent in the first half of 2026.
“Zooming back on the Big Four (110 out of 190 $100k+ deals, i.e. 58%), Nigeria is head and shoulders above its peers, with Egypt and Kenya almost tying, and South Africa in fourth position again,” the report noted.
The report highlighted contrasting performances among the continent’s largest startup ecosystems. While Nigeria and Egypt maintained strong funding momentum, Kenya recorded its weakest funding performance since early 2021 after a strong second half of 2025, and South Africa failed to attract $100 million in funding during the period despite leading the continent a year earlier.
Africa: The Big Deal also noted a broader shift in investor behaviour, with funding increasingly concentrated in larger transactions while early-stage investments continued to decline. According to the publication, the drop in smaller funding rounds reflects growing concerns about limited capital available for early-stage startups across Africa.
