"The United States is all in on Africa." President Biden affirmed during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit last December.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, is a key pillar to realizing this vision for shared prosperity. Since it was signed over two decades ago, AGOA has made a tremendous difference for millions of Africans. By providing duty-free access to the U.S. market for over 6,800 different products, the legislation has helped create jobs and new economic opportunities, including for women and youth.
In Namibia, the U.S. government supported the Ministry of Industrialization and Trade to develop the National African Growth and Opportunity Act Utilization Strategy in May 2021 through a consultative process with key sectors. Since 2017, we have directly supported Namibian firms to unlock more than $30 million Namibia dollars worth of exports to the United States under AGOA.
Every year, the U.S. Trade Representative and trade ministers from every country that participates in AGOA come together to take stock of their work together and find opportunities to do more. This convening is an opportunity to gauge progress to date and perhaps more importantly, discuss if we can improve AGOA to better serve more Africans and Americans.