Tag Archives: Trade Preferences for Africa

Trade Talk – Don’t Mischaracterize AGOA

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Published by: allAfrica.com

31 August 2010

OPINION

I find it troubling that declaring Agoa’s achievements a “disappointment” has gained currency in so many policy circles. It leverages a pernicious line of thinking, one that belittles the significant achievements African countries have made over the last 10 years and perceives polices that support African economic growth as zero-sum. This thinking threatens to undermine what I believe is one of the United States’ most successful and cost-effective development assistance programs ever.

Obama Administration, Congress and Africa Celebrate 10-Year Anniversary of AGOA

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Ten years after the enactment of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a group of its original architects and supporters from Congress, the US government and the private sector, as well as members of the African diplomatic corps, met on Capitol Hill to celebrate its success in spurring economic development in Africa and to call for a recommitment to protect, extend and expand the landmark legislation. Continue reading →

Collier Warns Against Expanding AGOA to Non-African Least Developed Countries

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Eminent development economist Dr. Paul Collier, Director of the Center for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University, warned last week that expanding the trade preferences currently reserved for eligible African nations by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to all Least Developed Countries (LDCs) would be disastrous for African economic development. Continue reading →

Notes from “Leaders Forum on the 10-Year Anniversary of AGOA”

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April 26, 2010
Washington, DC

On April 26th, The Whitaker Group and the AGOA Action Committee co-hosted a Leaders Forum with the Africa Coalition for Trade, the African-American Unity Caucus, the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa, the Constituency for Africa, the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, Manchester Trade, and the Corporate Council on Africa to address remaining challenges in trade-based development for Africa and a way forward for US-Africa economic policy.  The coalition also unveiled a comprehensive Africa economic policy recommendation for the Obama Administration, found here. Continue reading →

Enterprise for Development: A New US Policy Approach Toward Africa

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On April 26, 2010, the AGOA Action Committee introduced a new six-pronged Africa policy framework entitled “Enterprise for Development: A New US Policy Approach Toward Africa,” or EnDev.  The proposal will be presented to the Obama Administration and Congress in support of their on-going work to strengthen and enhance expanded US engagement, trade, investment and proven poverty alleviation efforts with Africa. Continue reading →

AGOA’s Architects Unveil New Africa Economic Policy for Obama Administration

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Ten years after the enactment of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a coalition of its original architects and supporters on Monday unveiled a comprehensive new trade and economic policy to be presented to the Obama Administration that would build on AGOA’s successes and expand the growing trade relationship between Africa and the United States. Continue reading →

Moving Forward into AGOA’s Second Decade

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This week TWG helped to organize and to co-host two back-to-back events that brought together an amazing coalition of people from Africa, the US and beyond to plan the strategy for AGOA as it moves forward into its second decade, and to discuss ways to maximize capital flows to Africa and give the African Diaspora vehicles to use remittances to invest in Africa’s development. Continue reading →

“A Call to Action:” Remarks on AGOA by Rosa Whitaker

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“Leaders Forum: AGOA and the Way Forward on U.S.-Africa Economic Policy”
April 26th, 2010
The Willard InterContinental Hotel, Washington DC

 Remarks by Rosa Whitaker

Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, Honored Guests.  I would like to begin by welcoming you all and by thanking my co-hosts for their support of this event: The AGOA Action Committee, the Africa Coalition for Trade, the African-American Unity Caucus, the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa, the Constituency for Africa, the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, Manchester Trade, and the Corporate Council on Africa.  Continue reading →

How Not to Use Trade Preferences

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By Patrick Costello

The report on trade preference programs recently released by the Center for Global Development, while making a number of sound recommendations for reforming and harmonizing the myriad of preference programs extended to the developing world from “rich countries,” contains several points that would be harmful to nations benefiting from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Continue reading →

Delaying the Trade Preference Reform Debate

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By Patrick Costello

As 2009 comes to a close, Congress is poised to pass a one-year extension for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), both of which are set to expire on December 31, 2009. Despite rhetoric calling for reform from Senate Finance Committee Republican leadership, a full-day Congressional hearing on the issue, and the introduction of legislation harmonizing preference programs and extending benefits to non-African LDCs, Congress has decided to pitch the reform discussion to next year. Continue reading →

Congress Daily – Reaction to McDermott Bill Harsh, Muted

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By Peter Cohn

Congress Daily
November 20, 2009

African nations and domestic textile interests wasted no time slamming the first serious legislative attempt in the 111th Congress to overhaul U.S. trade preferences, while Bangladesh, a key player on the opposite side of the debate, was lukewarm. Continue reading →

Rosa Whitaker Calls for Expanded AGOA, Stronger Constituency For Africa

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Lays out Policy Imperatives for the Obama Administration during annual CBC Conference

Washington, D.C. (September 25, 2009) – At two headline events on US-Africa policy during the Congressional Black Caucus’s Annual Legislative Conference, Rosa Whitaker, President and CEO of the Whitaker Group and the first ever Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa, called on advocates for Africa to reach out to Congress and the Obama Administration in a concerted effort to support several new trade and investment initiatives for the continent.  Continue reading →

Debunking Myths About AGOA

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Published at allafrica.com – Trade Talk with Rosa Whitaker
by Rosa Whitaker

In the aftermath of the annual AGOA Forum held last month in Nairobi, there has been a chorus of pessimists placing AGOA in the Hall of Shame of failed policy initiatives.  They could not be more wrong.

In fact, AGOA is among the most successful US policies towards Africa-especially in terms of a return-on-investment ratio.  According to the OECD, over the past 50 years the US has spent well over $325 billion dollars in foreign aid to Africa – yet Africa remains the only region of the world getting poorer.  The returns on investments from US aid have been dismal. Continue reading →

Will Global Recession Damage US-Africa Trade Ties?

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Published at allafrica.com
by Paul Collier and Rosa Whitaker

Writing after last week’s United States-Africa trade forum in Nairobi, Paul Collier and Rosa Whitaker call on both the U.S. and African nations to craft a meaningful strategy to prevent better trade relations from becoming “a casualty of the recession and of the drift towards political expediency and protectionism.”

This week in Nairobi, Kenya, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led a US delegation to the 8th Annual African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum.  This Forum, a meeting of US and African ministers, business and civil society leaders, was created as part of AGOA — the first comprehensive US trade policy towards Africa.  Continue reading →

Not On My Watch

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Published at allafrica.com – Trade Talk with Rosa Whitaker
by Rosa Whitaker

As the Obama Administration develops its Africa and trade policies, it is critical that it resists pressure from some development advocates and members of Congress to support legislation that extends the duty-free access to the US market enjoyed by African nations under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to all Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Continue reading →

President Obama’s Emerging Africa Policy

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Published at allAfrica.com – Trade Talk with Rosa Whitaker

by Rosa Whitaker

Slowly but surely, President Obama’s Africa policy is beginning to take shape.  In my twenty-five years of work on African economic issues, I’ve seen consecutive US Administrations become increasingly more committed to Africa’s development. I don’t believe President Obama will be an exception.  The fact that his overall foreign policy is driven by experienced-hands with Africa expertise gives reason to believe that Africa will be well-integrated and supported within the broader US foreign and economic policy construct.  Continue reading →

Watch Your Trade Preferences

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by Paul Fakes

Making sense out of the current hodgepodge of U.S. trade preference programs, which include the Generalized System of Preferences, the Caribbean Basin Initiative, the Andean Trade Preference Act, and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), is generally one of the last things on the congressional ‘to do’ list any given year; even more so in the middle of a global recession. However, the Obama Administration’s outline of The President’s Trade Policy Agenda provides hope that trade preference reform may stake out a place on the congressional agenda in the 111th Congress. Continue reading →

It’s the Manufacturing Sector, Stupid

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by Paul Fakes

The United Nation’s Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) released its 2009 Industrial Development Report this week – among other things, it notes how the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been successful in promoting development of the African apparel manufacturing sector.  The generous rules of origin and duty-free market access allowed under AGOA have spurred the apparel sector in several sub-Saharan African countries, creating thousands of jobs in the most impoverished countries in the world – all through the power of the marketplace. Continue reading →

Op-ed: Fixing U.S. Trade Benefits for the Poorest of the Poor

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By Rosa Whitaker

Despite high profile work on the global financial crisis, the U.S. Congress rightly acted last week to remove restrictions on apparel exports from certain least developed African countries.   The change comes after almost two years of pleas from U.S. and African government and apparel industry leaders.   Passage of these provisions by both the House and Senate is a welcome short term focus on the challenges to economic development through trade in Africa, especially as Congress typically avoids all votes on trade on the eve of elections. Continue reading →