AGOA

According to experts in the industry, trade shows are the #1 way to gain new business, making the Source Africa event in Cape Town, South Africa from April 9-12 a tremendous opportunity for suppliers in the region. However, experts also know that success at trade shows requires more than just showing up. To prepare exhibitors for Source Africa, the USAID Southern Africa Trade Hub conducted a Supplier Training Program in Lesotho, Mozambique and Botswana.

The Trade Hub explained the purpose of AGOA—to give African countries market access—and the wide range of sectors targeted towards that goal: 6,400 products from textiles to agriculture to luggage to automotive parts. To date AGOA has created 300,000 jobs, primarily in the textiles and apparel sector.
The Trade Hub joined Economic Officer Domingo Villaronga from the US Embassy, Botswana to participate in an interview with the Radio Botswana program Foreign Window on the topic of AGOA and regional trade in Southern Africa.

Interviewer Bontle Moreetsi was interested in the history and structuring of AGOA and whether it has benefitted the African countries it was designed to assist.

This article will give a statistical glimpse of Sub-Saharan Africa's performance under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA), with special focus on textiles/garments. A total of 41 Sub-Saharan Africa countries (including South Sudan) are AGOA-eligible. AGOA accords duty-free-quota-free (DFQF) treatment for eligible apparel articles made in qualifying sub-Saharan African countries through 2015.

The Export Digest covers export-related matters including Trade Hub export-related activities, export marketing, trade finance, export logistics, international trade law, export administration, export sales contracts and export success stories under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). We answer readers' questions about practical export-related matters and highlight important trade-related developments such as new trade agreements or regulatory changes. International trade experts, exporters and importers feature as guest contributors to the column to share their experiences.

The Trade Hub recently undertook an in-depth analysis of the textile and apparel industry in Southern Africa as an effort to boost investment interest in the region. Country reports and subsequent briefs on Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique and Swaziland provide a clear landscape of the trade and investment opportunities that exist, providing potential buyers and investors with reliable data on wages, working conditions, water and electricity tariffs as well as brief histories of the industry and operating companies. The analyses identified the capacity utilization levels of individual manufacturers, new equipment or looms investment opportunities and recent activities. In the coming months, the information from the country studies will be used by investment promotion agencies to develop a textiles and apparel country strategy to attract trade and investment.

The International Commercial Terms (Incoterms) are a series of commercial terms used in international commercial transactions. Each Incoterm refers to a specific type of agreement for the purchase and shipping of goods internationally and are meant reduce or eliminate uncertainties emanating from various interpretations of rules in different countries.