Be Up To Standard

On August 8, 2026, the United States Senate voted for the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), up to the end of December 31, 2028. The extension, passed with 90 votes in favour and 6 against, is a major sigh of relief for exporters of the 32 eli- gible Sub-Saharan African countries as the cur- rent AGOA agreement was due to expire at the end of September this year. Enacted in 2000, AGOA permits eligible African countries to export over 1,800 products duty-free to the US, including agricultural goods, footwear, automobiles, textiles, and manufactured pro- ducts. Besides, it also provides access for more than 5,000 products that are eligible under the Generalised System of Preferences program. Since the introduction of AGOA 25 years ago, it has been central to US-Africa trade relations, supporting billions of dollars in trade annually. To meet the standards of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), African nations must satisfy specific statutory criteria set by the U.S. government, including establishing market-based economies, protecting human rights, and fighting corruption. With another extension deal done, it is now the responsibility of each eligible country to put all hands on deck in order to maximise the numerous opportunities on the table. This im- plies making sure goods that are destined for the US markets meet the strict rules of origin, requiring at least 35% value addition within the beneficiary country, and also be attractive to American buyers. Additionally, countries must eliminate barriers to U.S. trade and in- vestment, and enact policies to reduce poverty. Instead of focusing basically on the sales of oil and minerals, AGOA opens the doors for the exportation of semi-finished and finished products like processed foods that are in high demand in t...