Botswana underutilising AGOA opportunities
Only four companies trade with USA Govt. reviewing the project
The African Growth and Opportunity Act ( AGOA) is currently under a three month bi- annual review with the intention to expand the benefits for Botswana businesses.
The review is due for completion at the end of this month. Botswana Guardian spoke to the United States Ambassador Graig Cloud in an exclusive pre- election interview.
Asked what the benefits and challenges of the African Growth and Opportunity Act ( AGOA) in facilitating economic diversification in Botswana have been, Cloud admitted that they have “really struggled” to get companies to take advantage of AGOA.
“We are working with a couple of companies that are starting to export to the US and using AGOA’s trade preference,” he said.
Masisi revealed that AGOA is currently under a three month bi- annual review process due for completion by the end of this month.
In his State of the Nation Address ( SONA) on Monday, President Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi revealed that to date, four local companies are exporting natural products such as Morula Oil, Organic Honey and Gourmet Gems following attainment of Fair Trade Certification.
Masisi revealed that AGOA is currently under a three month bi- annual review process due for completion by the end of this month.
He said that national capacity audits on the jewellery and semi- processed stones have been completed. He was also confident that the newly established Leather Entrepreneur Association with a membership of 100 players in the sector’s value chains including abattoirs, collectors, exporters, traditional tanners, manufacturers and suppliers has developed a roadmap for capacity building and accessing the US market.
For his part, the US envoy revealed that the places where AGOA is most heavily used are petrol exporting countries like Angola and Nigeria, which enjoy huge benefits from the trade pact.
“But we are really trying hard to get entrepreneurs here in Botswana to get them to think on how they can market their goods to the US. They have great ideas.
“Probably the biggest problem for those who want to do business in the US is if you are a small business and you want to get your goods into say Amazon, you have to be able to scale up very quickly and that is a challenge in Botswana because it does not have a large industrial base.
“So we are trying to work with entrepreneurs to figure out ways they can overcome some of these challenges,” Cloud said.