Ethiopia is among the leading countries in the East African region in its use of the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) treaty with the United States.
According to the US Trade and Investment with sub-Saharan Africa- Recent Trends and New Developments report published on Tuesday, Kenya led the region, scoring 98 percent.
Ethiopia at 81.9 percent and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at 68.2 percent are the other eastern Africa countries that have also taken advantage of the treaty to increase exports to the US mainly of products like textile and apparels, metals, agricultural products and artefacts.
Increase in apparel exports by Madagascar, Ethiopia and Kenya resulted in US imports of apparel from the region under AGOA increasing by 9.9 percent annually to $1.2 billion from 2016 to 2018.
With five years left for the program to expire, U.S. official says only a limited number of African countries are benefiting from AGOA.
The trade act has been the cornerstone of the United States’ economic engagement with sub-Saharan Africa for almost two decades.
During that time, the U.S. has reportedly invested heavily to help African countries better utilize AGOA.
These include the creation of trade hubs as resources for African businesses and entrepreneurs, and allocating over $7 billion for trade capacity building initiatives, the report said.
MG/as/APA