World
US-Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation: Challenges and Future Pathways
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.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Accessing the US Dollar in the East Africa region has now been made easier with the expansion of the stablecoin settlement infrastructure of SCRYPT.
This development enables banks, payment providers and corporate treasury teams to move value into and out of the continent in real time.
Businesses paying international suppliers frequently have to convert local currency into USD before purchasing stablecoins for settlement, incurring FX conversions and spreads before any payment is made.
But SCRYPT is eliminating this intermediate conversion by enabling direct settlement corridors for local African currencies into stablecoins.
This development allows businesses to move from local currency to stablecoin settlement in a single licensed transaction, without first sourcing rationed bank dollars, as stablecoins are increasingly becoming settlement infrastructure rather than an investment product.
The expansion adds settlement support across four African currencies: the Kenyan shilling (KES), Tanzanian shilling (TZS), Rwandan franc (RWF) and Ugandan shilling (UGX). Each corridor is delivered through the same full-stack infrastructure our clients already use for trading, custody and treasury operations.
Speaking on this, the chief executive of SCRYPT, Norman Wooding, said, “Across Africa, stablecoin adoption is driven by economic need, not speculation.
“Businesses here are not chasing yield; they are trying to pay suppliers and manage treasury without losing margin to a banking system that rations dollars. Licensed, fair-rate dollar access is the clearest proof of what this infrastructure is for.”
Also commenting, the Managing Director of Markets & Trading at SCRYPT, Mr Gabriel Titopoulos, said, “Until now, reaching stablecoins from local African currencies meant buying scarce dollars and incurring several layers of conversion costs.
“SCRYPT removes this friction. Firms and payment providers can now settle straight from local currencies through live corridors, with local partners.”
World
African Graduates Association Promoting Multifaceted Initiatives With Russian Educational Institutions
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
In preparations for the third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for late October 2026, Dr Francois Ngan, deputy chairman of the Union of Associations of African Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities, during an official working visit, has held a consultative meeting with Professor Vladimir Filippov, the President of the Russian University of Peoples’ Friendship (RUDN), and former Minister of Higher Education of Russia, Chairman of the National Commission for Accreditation of Higher Education.
RUDN is an educational institution established in 1960, primarily to provide higher education to Third World students. It has now become a popular multidisciplinary spot for many students, especially from developing countries. The university offers various academic programmes and has research infrastructure that comprises laboratories and interdisciplinary centres. The university is named after the former Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba.
Dr Francois Ngan and Professor Filippov discussed the importance of the Graduates Association as a continental platform dedicated to strengthening unity, cooperation, and promoting shared progress among African graduates who studied in the former Soviet Union and in the Russian Federation. They also reviewed multifaceted initiatives that could bring together alumni associations from across Africa, whose members obtained education and professional training, and cultural experiences in Soviet and Russian institutions of higher learning.
Professor Filippov expressed optimism in addressing emerging challenges as a result of shifting geopolitical changes, emphasised strategic cooperation in the educational sphere with Africa, in general, and with the Republic of Cameroon, in particular, and further about the integration of African students during their studies in the Russian Federation.
The meeting also touched on academic and scientific work, the possibility of rewriting a scientific thesis, and the official organisation of transferring versions translated into six languages for the library of RUDN. Significant questions relating to Russia’s educational opportunities, collaborations and partnerships involving African countries were thoroughly discussed.
The Union of Associations of African Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities was created under one continental umbrella to promote friendship, for professional networking, to engage in cultural exchange, and with particular emphasis on forging strategic cooperation between Africa and Russia.
World
Russia to Support Industrial Growth, Technological Advancement and Supply Chain Resilience across Africa
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
With the heightening of geopolitical rivalry and competition, a new Russia-Africa working group has emerged as a significant institutional mechanism and plans to focus on facilitating and monitoring strategic investments, industrialisation, and infrastructural development—the Strategic Action Plan 2023-2026—that was outlined during the second Russia-Africa summit, in St.Petersburg, the second largest city in the Russian Federation.
While substantial progress has, largely, lagged on the multidimensional economic front with Africa primarily due to its internal difficulties and the complexity of relations with its former Soviet neighbours, Russian officials believe there still remains huge untapped potential in strengthening bilateral cooperation. As planned, President Vladimir Putin has already signed an executive order that directs Moscow to host the forthcoming third Russia-Africa summit in October 2026.
On June 30, a regular meeting of the Business Council on Africa was held under the chairmanship of the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry. It was dedicated to issues of trade, economic and investment cooperation with Africa. The group discussed the current state and prospects for the implementation of policy initiatives with an emphasis on assisting the countries of the continent, strengthening their economic, energy, technological and food sovereignty, as well as training specialists for Africa.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reiterated that Russia-Africa relations primarily depend on an understanding of the importance of collective action based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and resolving common tasks. In the past few years, Russia-Africa cooperation has been noticeably strengthening. “We are deepening political dialogues, developing bilateral contacts with African countries, promoting cordial cooperation between ministries and departments, and expanding humanitarian exchanges. We are also continuing the structural diversification of trade partnerships and economic dimensions.”
“Next on the agenda is the launch of diplomatic missions in The Gambia, Liberia, Togo, and the Union of the Comoros,” Lavrov said at a meeting of the Business Council under the Russian foreign minister. Lavrov noted that Russian embassies began operating in three other African countries in 2025: Niger, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan. A new Department for Partnership with Africa was also established. According to the top diplomat, “expanding Russia’s diplomatic presence on the continent contributes to developing relations.”
There are already 45 Russian embassies operating in Africa. The Russian foreign minister noted that Moscow is quickly rebuilding its presence in African countries, which sharply declined during the collapse of the Soviet Union. “There will be literally four or five countries left where we still need to establish full-fledged embassies, and then, we will have 100 per cent coverage of the entire African continent with our diplomatic presence,” Lavrov emphasised.
After the first summit in October 2019, the Foreign Ministry also created the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum. Its main tasks include controlling the roadmap to Africa’s multidimensional cooperation and guiding potential Russian investors to the continent. This also underscored the priority and post-Soviet solidarity Russia currently attaches to its policy towards Africa, within the growing framework of the emerging new architecture of multipolarity in the Global South.
In an interview in June 2026, the director of the Department of Partnership with Africa at the Foreign Ministry, Tatyana Dovgalenko, shared a few insights in the lead-up to the third summit. Furthermore, Dovgalenko explained that Russia would move away from security to concentrate more on economic issues, especially to team up with African colleagues to streamline mechanisms for implementing projects that will ensure food security and agriculture, and help Africa in installing processing facilities to support its self-sufficiency. She also emphasised energy and vital infrastructures, and the third direction was to simultaneously work more coherently with sub-regional organisations.
Over the past few years, bilateral relations have been increasing. There are positive dynamics in trade turnover, estimated at $30 billion. Steps are being taken to build payment systems, preferably in national currencies, while Russia looks to open four more diplomatic offices, bringing the total to 48 across Africa. Russia is currently training 37,000 African students, but only approximately 1/3 on state scholarships in Russia’s educational institutions. “We are ready to share valuable experiences of building a sovereign development model with African partners to achieve self-reliant economic growth based on their own resources and capabilities. Russia aims at creating processing capabilities and localising production, and provides access to advanced technological solutions,” underlined Dovgalenko in her interview with New Eastern Outlook.
For African countries that have endured difficult decades on the path to political independence, it is now important to take full control over the untapped resources, direct income and revenue toward stimulating the national economic sector, rather than paying for the well-being of the Western “golden billion” during this changing geopolitical era, according to Dovgalenko.
According to reports, the forthcoming Russia-Africa summit will have an economic agenda, including the digital economy, technology, artificial intelligence, healthcare, investment, and settlements in global trade. Of course, the agenda will also cover Africa’s political aspects. But if African friends bring along any specific ideas, Russia will give them serious attention. In addition, with continuity and consistency, pay increased attention to expanding ties with Africa’s regional integration associations.
Going forward, the focus will be on translating strong trade relations into deeper investment partnerships, fostering technology collaboration, strengthening industrial linkages and contributing towards the shared objectives set by the leadership of both African countries and Russia. At the third summit, the above-mentioned specific initiatives will be further designed. In this regard, the key document, the new action plan for the next three-year period (2027-2029), is intended to reflect dynamic realities in the future relations of Russia and Africa
