According
to data from the department, Nigeria accounted for a paltry volume of $9
million out of $2.7 billion agricultural exports recorded by the continent to
the United States in 2017.
Specifically,
Sullivan noted that an increasing number of countries took advantage of the
benefits available under the legislation, adding that the low volume recorded
in non-oil export was as a result of dependence on oil. Nigeria’s oil export to
the U.S rose from $3.4 billion to $6 billion.
The
U.S. however encouraged Nigeria to liberalize to attract greater foreign
investment stating that there are many restrictions to doing business in
Nigeria thwarting foreign and domestic investment.
In
2017, African exports of agricultural products increased by 10% to $2.7billion,
compared to previous years where non-oil exports increased from $1.3billion in
2001 to $4.2billion in 2015.Overall, trade trend was also positive, with
US-Africa trade rising by 15.8% in 2017, from $33billion to $38.5billion, while
US exports to Africa rose 4% to $13.1billion and African exports to the US rose
by more than 20% to over $24billion.
Between
2016 and 2017, Ghana saw its exports under AGOA quadruple to more than
$300million, while Madagascar and Ethiopia took greater advantage of the market
access granted for footwear and garments, with the two countries’ exports to
the US rising to $152million and $92million respectively.
The
United States (U.S.) had revalidated AGOA by 10 years, to elongate the flagship
trade deal with the continent till September 30, 2025.The new window re-opened
vista for Nigeria and other countries in the region to grow their non-oil
exports to the U.S. to over $8 billion within the next 10 years, under the
extended trade deal.
Essentially,
under the programme’s extended regime, African countries would be engaged in
the rules of origin to engender value-addition of raw materials as they could
now include the cost of direct processing, as they share production from one
country to another on their way to the U.S. market.
Furthermore,
African countries exporting to the U.S. can also use the programme across
borders, thereby stimulating intra-African trade in regional markets, where
value may be further added to export products.
Similarly,
the reviewed scheme equally renews focus on the ability of Africans to meet
food safety standards in the U.S. and other industrial standards that have been
identified for export products.
The US
determines whether countries in Sub-Saharan Africa meet its published
eligibility requirements on a yearly basis and beneficiary status can be
granted, or withdrawn, at the discretion of the US President. Currently, 38 African countries are eligible
for AGOA, which extends duty-free access to the US market across 6 000 tariff
lines.
Increased
oil exports, which are not covered by AGOA, accounted for a large share of the
increase, but Sullivan said there were also some “encouraging signs of
diversification”. (Financial Times)
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