By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

The United States government hosted trade ministers from sub-Saharan Africa for the annual African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum from July 24 to 26. Since its (AGOA) launch in 2000, this important corporate event has taken place alternately in Washington or an African city each year. Last year, it was held in South Africa. The Forum took place in Washington against the backdrop of geopolitical changes, and during an election period in the United States.

Ahead of the Forum, on July 23 there was an official statement from President Joe Biden on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum in Washington that called on Congress to quickly reauthorize and modernize this landmark Act—which is set to expire in 2025. That America is all in on Africa. Together, let’s ensure that future generations of Americans and Africans can meet the challenges and seize the opportunities of the decades ahead.

“For more than two decades, the bipartisan African Growth and Opportunity Act has formed the bedrock of America’s economic partnership with African nations.  Sub-Saharan Africa has increased the competitiveness of African products, led to the creation of tens of thousands of quality jobs, and helped advance human rights. Here at home, AGOA has created investment opportunities and new markets for American businesses. And on both sides of the Atlantic, AGOA has promoted sustainable economic growth and resilient supply chains,” President Joe Biden said in the statement.

United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai, at the opening ceremony of the 21st Africa Growth and Opportunity Act Forum, in the presence of African finance ministers, heads of delegation from AGOA partner countries, Secretaries-General and Commissioners of the Regional Economic Communities and the African Union, acknowledged the extraordinary collaborative job done by the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities and together with Africa’s Finance Ministers. For the last three years, the Biden-Harris Administration has focused on measures to deepen trade and strengthen economic cooperation, she said in a quick assessment in terms of performance and results.

“When President Biden asked me to serve as his Trade Representative, he gave me a directive—to use trade for the common good. This means putting workers at the centre of our trade policy because they are the backbone and engine of our economy. This also means expanding the table and lifting more voices, especially those of women, youth, the African Diaspora, and communities that have been historically overlooked. This is how we are democratizing economic opportunity and transforming the role of trade in the social contract between our government and our people,” she explained in her speech at the 21st AGOA ministerial meeting held on July 25 in Washington.

These core beliefs are the centrepiece of the trade relationship with Africa—especially AGOA. Washington officials consider AGOA’s success to date as an unshakeable potential for a new era, as a driving force to strengthen trade with Africa. And next, Africa possesses tremendous opportunity and potential. The officials further acknowledged that the world is very different from when AGOA was first enacted 24 years ago. That is why the Biden-Harris Administration not only supports the reauthorization of AGOA but also the strengthening and improvement of it to fit the rapidly changing times.

As one of the strategic steps, AGOA is closely working with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat. Besides that, AGOA is also working on a bilateral basis with many African countries, for instance with Kenya on the Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership. It has a trade collaboration with South Africa. The forward-looking model for engagement with the continent is to make AGOA more inclusive, responsive, and transformative—for all segments of the society. The simple proposition that is to capture, within the context of the geopolitical situation, both the current realities and future possibilities.

The ministerial program featured plenary sessions on the present and future of AGOA and U.S.–Africa trade and investment cooperation, as well as sessions on various topics. It was preceded by a Civil Society and Organized Labor Forum and a Private Sector Forum. It brought together senior government officials from the United States and AGOA-eligible countries, as well as representatives from continental and regional economic organizations, labour, civil society, and the private sector. Under the theme “Beyond 2025: Reimagining AGOA for an Inclusive, Sustainable and Prosperous Tomorrow,” the U.S. delegation underscored the United States’ commitment to the AGOA program and led discussions on a broad range of topics, including using AGOA to drive more inclusive and sustainable economic development for Africans and Americans and further strengthen U.S.-Africa economic relations.

During the AGOA Forum, Ambassador Tai facilitated a session with Members of Congress and African ministers on AGOA reauthorization.  She also held bilateral meetings with African Union Trade Commissioner Albert Muchanga; Ghana’s Minister of Trade and Industry Kobina Tahir Hammond; Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite; and South Africa’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau.

Chief Agricultural Negotiator Ambassador Doug McKalip met with Angola’s Secretary for Economic Affairs Milton Parmédio dos Santos Reis and Mauritius’ Ambassador N. Chedumbarum, Head of the Economic Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration, and International Trade. Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for African Affairs Constance Hamilton met with Rwanda’s Minister of Trade and Industry Dr. Jean-Chrysostome Ngabitsinze and Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Trade Alfred K’Ombudo.

AGOA Forum participants included trade ministers from 32 AGOA-eligible countries.  The U.S. delegation included Members of Congress and professional staff from the United States Congress, and senior government officials from the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, the Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, Prosper Africa, the Small Business Administration, the United States Trade and Development Agency, the United States International Development Finance Corporation, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the National Security Council.

Last November in Johannesburg, South Africa, AGOA held its 20th Forum and sent a powerful reminder about the giant roadmap to integrate the United States’ economic cooperation and trade with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). It plans to share common goals and corporate aspirations and to chart a path of transforming and modernizing partnerships.

The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) expressed extremely optimistic views about the future. It shared an intertwined and inseparable history of America and Africa.  This is foundational for the Biden-Harris Administration and it’s foundational for AGOA itself. The American and African companies, the private sector operators, and the African Diaspora that in this next era of AGOA be more transformative, for more people across the continent, and along the way, build a stronger productive and meaningful partnership between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa.

The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), the leading US business association, focuses solely on connecting business interests in Africa. In 2023, CCA organized a business summit which was a tremendous success in Botswana, southern Africa. The participants – most importantly – private sector corporate executives looked at Africa and the United States in strategic dialogue on the key issues and opportunities driving U.S.-Africa trade, investment, and commercial engagement.

Dr Barbara A. Perkins, Co-Founder and President of the International Black Women’s Public Policy Institute, looked at her organization working to empower Black women from the diaspora, across a lot of different public policy areas, to become leaders. At this point of global development, given the opportunity that there is the necessity to move women professionals, with all of the change in the world, it is a particularly special moment for exploring new pathways and new ways of doing things with the most important partners across Africa. These include women entrepreneurs, and women in politics, and generally to empower them wherever they are and whatever they do – to be an incredibly important part of the program, its enormous economic potential and discover so many common values – in Africa. Worth noting that African partners share a vision around more inclusive, sustainable, durable trade policies that inform economic growth, opportunities, and industrialization.

For three solid working days, the gathering had conversations relating to how to transform the multilateral trading system to benefit more people, particularly underserved communities. It examined various ways to modernize the legislation to the benefit of people across Africa and in America. It further looked at how trade can and must help craft a fairer and more equitable future for Africa – delivering real opportunities across all segments of societies, including women, youth, the African Diaspora, and other underserved groups. The workers and their families. The women business owners.  The tech entrepreneurs. Young musicians. Farmers using climate-smart agriculture.  And many more. In the practical long-term, AGOA has been a bedrock to improve the livelihoods of so many people.

Over the past few years, African leaders have been advocating for large-scale structural reforms, financial inadequacies and policy approaches by multinational institutions mostly dominated by the United States. The leaders have consistently been arguing for better development finance strategies and questioned the substance of using the U.S. currency. The majority of the leaders expressed support for ‘de-dollarization’ in their external trade operations, and yet gearing to strengthen trade with Europe and the United States.

By design AGOA, for example, is a useful mechanism for improving accessibility to boost trade, competitiveness, connectivity, and productivity. With evolving contradictions and complexities, it is the right moment to capitalize on the available potential capital for accelerating development. Further to that, Africa has to strengthen its foreign revenue sources from markets where the currency has value and is convertible. Therefore, the late July 2024, African ministerial summit was devoted to review thoroughly the benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Some African strategists and research analysts indisputably believe that remittance flows are definitely one of the surest reliable sources of foreign exchange, depending solely on the dollar currency, to support trade. In its latest report in June, the World Bank indicated that, despite the geopolitical uncertainties, instability and challenges, sub-Saharan Africa’s remittance flow reached $54 billion in 2023. Looking ahead for ensuring 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. President Joe Biden has also created the African Diaspora Advisory Council as part of the presidency. It has been working closely together to deepen and fortify America’s strategic partnerships with the African diaspora in the interests of sustaining meaningful stability between Africa and the United States.

Over the past 24 years, AGOA has made a tangible difference for millions of people in Africa. New jobs. New business opportunities. New hope. AGOA has not only strengthened economic relations with the United States but also has helped create African-led solutions to the region’s challenges. And importantly, AGOA has created a community of policymakers, civil society, and business leaders, dedicated to using this forum to better the lives of everyday people. The program provides duty-free access to the US market for nearly 2,000 products from eligible countries. US imports under AGOA topped $9.7 billion last year.

Remarks by Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for African Affairs, Constance Hamilton, at the closing ceremony emphasized that the United States, as a genuine partner, is partnering for an open and fair society. Partnering for economic empowerment and inclusive prosperity—for all people. Hamilton referred to the US President’s statement. As President Biden said, “In so many ways, Africa is the future—and so when Africa succeeds, the whole world succeeds.” By 2050, one in four people in the entire world will be in Africa. That means what happens in Africa impacts the entire world.

“AGOA has played an instrumental role in realizing this vision. This is why the Biden-Harris Administration is all in on Africa,” he underlined. “We explored barriers that women, youth, MSMEs, and the African Diaspora face in accessing trade and investment opportunities and how we can use the AGOA more effectively to drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth. We explored how to better use the multilateral trading system to benefit more people, particularly underserved communities. We also discussed opportunities to modernize the AGOA program to realize its full potential as a tool for development and regional economic integration. And we discussed how the United States and AGOA partners can collectively create and promote stronger high-standard investment opportunities.”

At this point, it is just important to reiterate that AGOA primarily offers African exporters and agencies to collaborate broadly on exportable goods and services as revenue sources from the United States market. It further emphasizes the importance of enhancing bilateral investments, promoting economic growth, and creating opportunities for local businesses and entrepreneurs across Africa. AGOA, as a gateway for addressing trade and investment obstacles in the continent, is due to be extended until 2041, plus a push to align AGOA closer to the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement, which would involve opening up the program to North African countries. This was one of the results, among others, which emerged from Washington.

Crafting the future partnership largely depends on the collective efforts by the AGOA statutory U.S. agencies – including State, Treasury, Commerce and USAID – and the entire U.S. government inter-agency, and the private sector, civil society and labour stakeholders, and many other corporate entrepreneurial NGOs affiliated to AGOA. The Biden-Harris Administration is seriously committed to working on new challenges and opportunities for continued success in the coming years to impact positively on real lives across the continent.  AGOA remains the cornerstone of the U.S. economic partnership with Africa.