Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for the extension of Agoa for a longer period to incentivise investors to establish new factories on the African continent.
“We would like you to look at the extension or renewal of AGOA for a sufficiently lengthy period for it to act as an incentive for investors to build new factories on the African continent.
“As we were going around talking to a number of product producers, the recurring message and word I heard is ‘we can do more…if this opportunity is extended and we can build more capacity if we have certainty that yes, the period of extension will be longer’.
“Shorter periods of extension impede investment ambitions and we therefore want to see a much lengthier period of extension. The United States and Africa… are going to be here for a long time. We are here for the long haul so let us make AGOA a long haul opportunity for all of us,” Ramaphosa said at the opening of the Agoa Forum, currently underway at Nasrec in Johannesburg.
Agoa has already shown success in improving the export competitiveness of various African products, such as textiles, apparel, and automotive exports.
Ramaphosa highlighted the desire to modernise African trading practices, moving from raw material supply to producing finished consumer goods.
He also expressed concerns about trade restrictions affecting Agoa utilisation and called for more targeted efforts to promote investment in the region.
The Agoa Forum aims to discuss ways to expand trade and investment relations between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as encourage joint ventures between small and large businesses.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
