US initiative to enhance trade with Africa through new trade platform
A US presidential-level national security initiative, Prosper Africa, has launched the Africa Trade Desk, a pivotal trade platform to strengthen ties between the superpower and the world’s last frontier market.
Announced by USAID Southern Africa mission’s deputy administrator, Isobel Coleman, at the Atlanta Phambili trade and investment show in Atlanta, US, the platform is set to catalyse an increase in trade, aiming to facilitate $300m (almost R6bn) in export sales from Africa within the next year and a half.
The Africa Trade Desk, a strategic public and private partnership, seeks to connect US food retailers with African producers, leveraging on the expertise of the USAID Southern African mission’s Africa trade and investment programme.
“African producers are eager to sell to the US market, but often lack access to networks of US buyers. US retailers like Shopify Sam’s Club Walmart and Whole Foods are eager to carry a diverse supply of products from across Africa, but similarly lack established networks. The Africa Trade Desk addresses this problem,” Coleman told delegates, who included Sim Tshabalala, the CEO of Africa’s biggest banking group, Standard Bank.
While the initiative is positioned as a trade enhancement tool, it also subtly addresses the broader geopolitical context. It may be seen as serving to counterbalance the growing Chinese economic footprints in Africa, signalling the US commitment to deepening its economic ties and presence in the region.
The platform is expected to diversify US sourcing and reduce supply chain dependencies, aligning with the Biden administration’s focus on resilient trade structures. The Africa Trade Desk promises to simplify the business process with Africa, providing access to a network of more than 20,000 US retail outlets.
Many African countries already export to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), a primarily one-way trade preference programme that provides dutyfree access to the US market for eligible countries in the region. The programme is due to expire next year and there are discussions about its future and potential renewal.
Reuben Brigety, the US ambassador to SA since mid2022, underlined the critical role SA would play in deepening strategic and economic ties with the rest of the continent in his opening remarks at the launch of the platform at Georgia Institute of Technology.
“SA is home to Africa’s deepest and most well-developed financial and capital markets and a large manufacturing base. It is a hub of value chains and economic development across Southern Africa, forming an ideal base [for] US companies seeking to grow across the region and unlock opportunities for intra-Africa trade integration,” said Brigety, who is spearheading Atlanta Phambili, a new trade and investment conduit between Africa, SA and the US.
The launch of the programme and the trade platform comes amid growing voices in the US Congress for a comprehensive review of US-SA relationship, particularly focusing on SA’s ties with Russia and China. Some in the US Congress have argued that SA appears to be moving towards an anti-US axis, a trajectory that may be at odds with foreign policy and national security interests.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Brigety acknowledged the complexity of the relationship between Pretoria and Washington.
“The relationship between the US and SA is strategic and complex and ... without question there are issues,” Brigety said.
“South Africans have taught me this beautiful phrase ‘let us continue to find each other’. We continue to find each other here in Atlanta. This is the beauty of this whole initiative. We can focus like a laser beam on the positive in ways that benefit both of our countries. We will leave it to the politicians to work through those issues.”
AFRICA TRADE DESK AIMS TO FACILITATE $300M IN EXPORT SALES FROM AFRICA WITHIN THE NEXT 18 MONTHS