GABON-AGOA/WHAT NEXT African nations benefitting from renewed US trade pact urged to diversify export products

Record ID: 142359

  • Title: GABON-AGOA/WHAT NEXT African nations benefitting from renewed US trade pact urged to diversify export products
  • Date: 28th August 2015
  • Summary: LIBREVILLE, GABON (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LIBREVILLE STREET SCENES VARIOUS OF EXHIBITORS DISPLAYING GOODS AT THE AGOA FORUM VARIOUS OF SOAP MAKER, VALERIE OBIANG, TALKING TO POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS AT HER EXHIBITION STAND SOAP ON DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE) (French) VALERIE OBIANG, SOAP MAKER, SAYING: "What we are expecting from AGOA is for our business to be promoted, it is an SME which bodes well for the future because we have a lot of bright ideas but no financial means to produce much so we wish AGOA could help in this." VARIOUS OF AGOA FORUM MEETING VARIOUS OF US ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR AFRICAN AFFAIRS, LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, TALKING TO ARTIST EXHIBITING HIS ARTWORK (SOUNDBITE) (English) LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, US ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR AFRICAN AFFAIRS, SAYING: "Can we do better? yes, there is so much more that can be done in terms of increasing the number of products, increasing the amount of trade between the 39 AGOA eligible countries and the United States and we're working on that through our trade hubs and through our discussions with trade ministers and working to make AGOA even a better instrument of trade between the United States and African countries." VARIOUS OF ROLAND DESIRE ABA'H, SECRETARY GENERAL, GABONESE EMPLOYERS CONFEDERATION, TALKING TO JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (French) ROLAND DESIRE ABA'H, SECRETARY GENERAL, GABONESE EMPLOYERS CONFEDERATION, SAYING: "Is AGOA a farce? I wouldn't say so but simply put the beginning of a conscience awareness, because the enterprise exhibiting at this forum cannot compete with those from the USA, to be able to talk of exchange one needs to produce, the USA are among the top producers world-wide. Africa as I told you produces and sells only 1% of the global production, as for Gabon, I do not know of one single product presented at this exhibition which can compete in the exchange relations between Gabon and the USA." VARIOUS OF TRADERS SELLING TEXTILES IN MARKET PEDESTRIANS WALKING ON STREET
  • Embargoed: 12th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Gabon
  • Country: Gabon
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAKQSM4LHM5IEGGUSM62TGJJUM
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As a meeting to review gains the gains and losses of the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) came to an end on Thursday (August 27) in Libreville, Gabon, many are now asking if the next decade will bear fruit for African trade.
    In an effort to boost trade under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), renewed by Congress for a decade in June, representatives from 39 African countries held talks with U.S. officials in oil-rich Gabon this week.
    Under the deal, first signed in 2000, African exports to the United States rose to $26.8 billion by 2013, but more than four-fifths of that was oil.
    Analysts say that a fresh U.S. trade pact could provide relief to African economies buffeted by the commodities slump but a failure to reform during the boom years has left many countries unable to profit from tariff-free access to the world's largest market.
    With U.S. demand for petroleum imports falling due to its shale revolution and commodities prices across the board hit by China's slowdown, the blow to African economies has highlighted their failure to industrialize.
    Many of the African beneficiary countries still lack viable internationally competitive industries that could survive without the preferences nor have they diversified into new products and markets.
    While it has helped create jobs in some African countries, critics have said AGOA has not met its objectives, particularly as much of the growth has been in the oil sector, which traditionally creates few jobs, most of which go to skilled expatriates.
    Entrepreneur Valerie Obiang is amongst many who came to exhibit their products outside the AGOA conference venue in Libreville.
    Obiang, who produces hand made soaps hopes that the next ten years of the pact will benefit small entrepreneurs like her to expand their businesses on an international level, but like many traders she says getting financing has been a challenge.
    "What we are expecting from AGOA is for our business to be promoted, it is an SME which bodes well for the future because we have a lot of bright ideas but no financial means to produce much so we wish AGOA could help in this," she said.
    U.S. officials say that, even with tariff-free access, a range of problems are holding back African exports, from poor transport links to costly electricity, lack of bank credit, corruption and labyrinthine bureaucracy.
    However, Washington is optimistic and hopes that the 10-year renewal of AGOA, rather than the usual three, will give investors the clarity needed to make long-term investment decisions such as building factories.
    "Can we do better? yes, there is so much more that can be done in terms of increasing the number of products, increasing the amount of trade between the 39 AGOA eligible countries and the United States and we're working on that through our trade hubs and through our discussions with trade ministers and working to make AGOA even a better instrument of trade between the United States and African countries," said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, USA Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Affairs.
    Analysts also say that one of the lessons of the first 15 years of AGOA is that tariff preferences, while important, are still not enough.
    Gabon's oil wealth has put its per capita gross domestic product among the highest in Africa and the World Bank ranks it as an upper middle-income country.
    However, wealth is unevenly distributed and many Gabonese live in poverty, while the slump in the price of oil has left it exposed.
    At the trade fair to promote the AGOA pact, the secretary general of the Gabonese employers confederation, Roland Desire Aba'h noted that many products in the country don't meet U.S. standards.
    "Is AGOA a farce? I wouldn't say so but simply put the beginning of a conscience awareness, because the enterprise exhibiting at this forum cannot compete with those from the USA, to be able to talk of exchange one needs to produce, the USA are among the top producers world-wide. Africa as I told you produces and sells only 1% of the global production, as for Gabon, I do not know of one single product presented at this exhibition which can compete in the exchange relations between Gabon and the USA," said Aba'h.
    Despite the challenges that AGOA has presented to beneficiary countries, there are some success stories.
    Countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya have been benefiting from AGOA, especially because they are not dependent on oil or mining, giving them an incentive to diversify into areas such as footwear and textiles exports.
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