AGOA At 10 - Washington D.C. Kansas City Forum Information

AGOA Forum 2010

“AGOA at 10: New Strategies for a Changing World”

August 2-3

Woodrow Wilson International Center

One Woodrow Wilson Plaza

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.

Washington, DC 20004

August 5-6

Marriott Convention Center

Two Hundred West 12th Street

Kansas City, Missouri 64105

The United States will hold a portion of the Ninth United States-Sub-Saharan Africa AGOA Forum. The forum begins  August 2-3, 2010 with senior government trade officials from 28 African nations, continuing August 5-6 with participates from the African Private Sector. This year's two-city format provides U.S. businesses a opportunity to discuss issues with decision makers across Africa. Potential issues include broader trade, capacity-building issues, and trade regulations. 

LOCATION:   Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars

                        6th Floor Flom Auditorium Room

                        1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

                        Washington, DC 20004

                        Tel: 202.691.4000

DATE:             August 2, 2010

Conference 9:00 am – 5:30pm (Woodrow Wilson Center)

Reception   7:00pm – 9:00pm (Woodrow Wilson Center)

                      August 3, 2010

Conference 9:00am - 5:00pm (Woodrow Wilson Center)

Closing Ceremony - 5:30pm - 6:30pm (Woodrow Wilson Center)

LOCATION:   Marriott Convention Center

                        200 West 12th Street

                        Kansas City, Missouri 64105

                        Tel: 816.421.6800

DATE:             August 5, 2010

Conference 8:30 am – 5:30pm (Marriott Convention Center)

Reception   6:00pm – 8:30pm (Marriott Convention Center)

                      August 6, 2010

Conference 8:30am - 12:30pm (Marriott Convention Center)

Closing Ceremony - 1:30pm - 2:30pm (Marriott Convention Center)

RSVP is required to attend these events. To RSVP click here. RSVP

requested by July 23, 2010****

AGOA Civil Society Forum 2010

AGOA Civil Society Forum 2010

“A Decade of Progress in Bridging the U.S.-Africa Trade Gap”

Woodrow Wilson International Center

One Woodrow Wilson Plaza

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.

Washington, DC 20004

July 29-30, 2010

The Africa Program of the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, together with Manchester Trade, the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation and the Shell Corporation are pleased to invite you to the AGOA Civil Society Forum of 2010. This forum will examine the involvement of civil society in the creation and implementation of AGOA and discuss the recommendations made by civil society forums over the years. The two-day conference entitled “African Growth and Opportunity Act Civil Society Forum 2010: A decade of Progress in Bridging the U.S. - Africa Trade Gap” will feature prominent speakers, including Senator Benjamin Cardin, (D-MD), Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Johnnie Carson, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson, African Union, and Congressman Ed Royce, (R-CA) House Foreign Affairs Committee.

LOCATION:   Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars

                        6th Floor Flom Auditorium Room

                        1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

                        Washington, DC 20004

                        Tel: 202.691.4000

DATE:             July 29, 2010

Conference 8:15 am – 5:30pm (Woodrow Wilson Center)

Reception   5:30pm – 7:00pm (Woodrow Wilson Center)

                      July 30, 2010

Conference 8:30am - 12pm (Woodrow Wilson Center)

RSVP is REQUIRED by July 26, 2010

Please click here to register for this event.

Upcoming Event featuring Manchester Trade - 28 July 2010

Stephen Lande, President of Manchester Trade Ltd. is scheduled to speak at the following event, heading discussions on the implications of AGOA on the US - Africa Partnership. Click here to RSVP.

The International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council & the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa

presents 

A Congressional Briefing on

African Agri-Food Exports to the U.S.:

Facing Challenges of Sanitary & Phytosanitary Standards and Tariff-Rate Quotas

U.S. Capitol Visitors Center

(Room to be Confirmed)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

10:00am – 12:00noon

The African Growth and Opportunity Act has strengthened U.S.-Africa trade ties, but the $1.2.-1.4 billion in food and agricultural goods the U.S. purchases from Africa each year are only a small fraction of the total value of U.S. imports from the continent. Please join the International Food & Agricultural Trade Policy Council and the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa for the release and discussion of two policy briefs, which analyze and seek to improve upon the disappointing performance of African food and agricultural exports to the U.S.

Moderator: 

Charlotte Hebebrand, Chief Executive, IPC

Welcome:

James Kiiru, Commercial Attache, Embassy of Kenya, and Chair, African Diplomatic AGOA Technical Committee

Introductory Remarks: 

Daniel Karanja, Sr. Fellow, Partnership to Cut Hunger & Poverty in Africa

Panel Discussion:

Horticultural Exports from AGOA Countries to the U.S.: Challenges & Considerations - Richard Pasco, Attorney, McLeod, Watkinson & Miller

US Tariff Rate Quotas and AGOA Market Access - David Skully, Professor, Jagiellonian University, Poland

Discussants:

Implications for Farmers & Rural Women - Lawrencia Adams-Simpson, Team Leader, Ghana Research and Advocacy Program and First Ray Almeida Fellow

Moving Forward and Implications for the U.S. and Africa - Steve Lande, President, Manchester Trade LTD

For more information, please visit the event website.

Nigeria's Diversifying Economy

Recent headlines describe the latest Chinese investments in Africa, and plans build to an $8billion oil refinery in Lagos. The refinery will be first of three to be built in Nigeria by China State Construction Engineering Corporation(CSCEC), as agreed in the $23billion framework signed in May. 

While Nigeria is the largest oil producer in sub Saharan Africa, the regional giant has displayed clear signs of a diversifying economy. By actively taking measures to avoid the constraints that prevent many of the world’s oil producing nations from realizing their full economic potential, other developing sectors compete with the oil industry.

According to a recent report, contribution of resources to Nigeria’s real GDP growth since 2000 (35%) is surpassed by the contribution of services (37%), and rivaled by the agricultural sector (27%). To put these statistics into perspective, one look to the results yielded by the same study in other oil producing African nations: Angola owes 86% of its GDP growth since 2000 to the resource sector, dwarfing contributions from the agricultural (8%) and the service (5%) sectors. Libya owes 63% of its GDP growth to resources, 31% to services, 2% to agriculture.

Nigeria also ranks 8^th out of 40 AGOA beneficiary countries in 2008 exports of agricultural products to the US. In addition to the growing agricultural sector, Nigeria remains one of Africa’s coastal countries with the largest reserves of uncultivated cropland.

Services account for the largest share of GDP growth, the result of a series of economic reforms aimed at stimulating the sector.  The banking industry has increased its assets fivefold since 2000, and the telecom sector has experienced explosive growth as well. Nigeria has overtaken South Africa to become the continent’s largest mobile market, with over 75 million subscribers.

In a recent speech, Adremi Babalola, Minister of State for Finance addressed the importance of economic diversity in the current global economy and described the threats of the global financial crisis and fluctuating oil prices to oil dependent countries.  Minister Babalola encouraged countries to explore the opportunities and potential gains attainable through increased investment in the service sector, specifically in ICT. He expressed his hopes for Nigeria to harness the power of the globally emerging ICT sector to achieve its Millennium Development Goals and sustained economic growth.

AGOA 2010 – Background and Information

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) forums will be held in both Washington D.C. and Kansas City this year. AGOA, a yearly forum, alternates between the United States and Africa since its implementation on May 18th, 2000. This Act offers incentives for African countries to build their economies and free markets. For a country to receive the benefits from AGOA it must clear the AGOA eligibility; there are 41 AGOA-eligible countries out of 47 that make up Africa.

AGOA Summer 2010 will be broken down into three parts, each designed for a specific audience: AGOA Civil Society Forum, AGOA Ministerial Meetings, and AGOA Agribusiness.

AGOA Civil Society Forum will be held at the Woodrow Wilson International Center from July 29-30.

AGOA Ministerial Meetings will be held in Washington D.C. from August 2-3.

AGOA Agribusiness Forum will be in Kansas City from August 5-6.


Picture: thank you to agoa.gov

"The Ball" is in Africa's Court

On June 14, 2010 Hillary Clinton held a conference on sub-Saharan Africa. Clinton specifically stated that she did not want to recreate her speech from the previous African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) forum. This year's AGOA she hopes will be different, being held in Washington D.C. and then Kansas City towards the end of the summer. Secretary Clinton believes that most of the work needs to be done in Africa, in particular by improving trade between African States.

"I Challenged African governments to change their own laws to increase more trade. If Africa traded - if sub-Saharan Africa traded among themselves the way Asian countries trade among themselves, the GDP growth would be significant in a relatively short period of time." While her thoughts on issues included state's corruption, capacity, and rivalries she stressed that African governments should use the United States as a resource.

In Clinton's words, the US has been waiting, and waiting, for an African state to tell the US administration exactly how it can be of assistance. She suggests that an African State use the US to restructure a state's laws. "I would love for some African government to come and say, go through our laws, tell us everything that needs to be changed that you believe would increase our GDP by 5 percent in the next 10 years, and we can tell you how to do it." The US would make sure the laws would be based around improving trade within the continent. Trade barriers such as tariffs and different regulations would need to be solved to foster a more effective economy.

Clinton has placed "the ball" in Africa's court, by saying, "The United States will do our part, but African countries have to start doing their part and making the changes that will grow the economies in the sub-Saharan region." As the 2010 AGOA conference approaches Clinton is determined that the US can assist Africa, but Africa needs to be more proactive.

Ten Recommendations for US-Africa Policy

The following are Manchester Trade’s suggestions to the US Administration and Congress for a proactive economic growth policy towards sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A new approach is required for the United States to better relate to SSA aspirations. Important too is a need to recover lost ground from China’s increasing dominance of African resources and markets, India’s leadership of African countries in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and European Union (EU) success, through a subtle combination of trade pressure and aid incentives, in negotiating agreements with an increasing number of African countries. Particularly frustrating to US commerce is the discrimination US products face against the EU’s exports in SSA markets. Manchester Trade (MT) argues that the Obama Administration must develop a creative, proactive approach and move away from its reliance on once effective but now largely outdated policies as a way to boost its commercial presence in these emerging markets; and, more importantly, contribute to African growth through the promotion of regional integration.

Manchester Trade urges the US government to complement its current initiatives in agriculture, food security and climate change with an economic growth initiative aimed at unlocking the competitive potential of the fast-emerging SSA markets. MT recommends that the US put its support behind African-led initiatives to regionally integrate. Integration among economies will help overcome the challenges they face and help them to attain the economies of scale required to achieve world-class competitive production. Greater participation in increasingly sophisticated value chains is possible. Through more diverse economies, and greater intra-regional cooperation, Africa can reach a level of global competitiveness attained by Asian and Latin American countries that were in the same situation a few years ago. The US Administration must introduce new trade initiatives, trade capacity-building measures and incentives to American businesses interested in the region to make this potential a reality.

The colonial division of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) led to the creation of 47 countries, almost all of which are too small to compete in the global economy and subsist at some of the lowest global income levels. A critical ingredient required in overcoming inefficiency and poverty is regional integration. As evidenced by the creation of more effective government institutions, economies of scale in production and infrastructure, and fostering development through the linking of small, land-locked economies, regional integration offers broad advantages.

A consensus is emerging that there needs to be a multi-Committee approach in Congress and an integrated approach from the White House and the development and financing agencies to develop a concerted approach among the key players.

Manchester Trade calls on the US government and Congress to provide a more comprehensive package of development and financing assistance to US-Africa programming initiatives than those that exist today.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Enhance US business opportunities in and with Africa

• Establish a One-Stop Shop. Require the Executive to establish a One-Stop Shop for US investors and traders wanting to do business in sub-Saharan Africa encompassing the Departments of Commerce and State, the US Agengy for International Development (USAID), Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), US Trade and Development Agency (TDA), the Export-Import Bank (ExIm) and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
• Propose China-US cooperation in Africa. Recommend that Secretary of State Clinton promote US coordination with China in developing a joint approach to African development under the Strategic Economic Dialogue mechanism, as part of an increased effort with all donors to develop a concerted, comprehensive and cooperative approach in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Institute investment or export tax credits for Africa. Direct the Administration working with the tax committees to develop tax credits and other incentives for businesses wishing to invest in or export to the African market. It would contribute to current US efforts to double exports as part of the American economic growth and recovery process.
• Institute a Brand Africa Program. Brand Africa as an emerging region complete with opportunities for investment and new market growth through an Executive Directive to all agencies to focus on Africa as part of the global supply chain and as an emerging market for US investments and exports.

Strengthen bilateral trade relations

• Suggest policy alternatives to the EU's Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). EPAs should be replaced with a non-coercive multilateral approach which would respect the policy space due poor and vulnerable SSA countries, allow them to develop internal production capacities, reinforce economic integration and not discriminate against US exports.
• Re-examine the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Modify AGOA legislation to:
• expand coverage to allow duty-free, quota-free (DFQF) importation of all products, including less sensitive products subject to tariff rate quotas (TRQs); 
• develop more effective and less disruptive sanctions than removal from AGOA to pressure countries to adhere to its eligibility requirements and use AGOA removal only as the last resort;
• ensure AGOA benefits are permanent, including those permitting the use of third country fabrics;
• mandate trade capacity-building efforts and renew the African Global Competitiveness Initiative; and
• suggest the establishment of a joint US-NEPAD African Peer Review Mechanism to develop benchmarks and monitor the success of US trade programs.

Take the lead in multilateral negotiations

• Support SSA Aspirations at the WTO. Work with the AU and the African group to instill enthusiasm for a pro-African growth and integration agenda there. For example, support elimination of obstacles to integration by treating the region as a special economic zone rather than dividing it between least-developed countries (LDCs) and non-LDCs for purposes of DFQF programs and in demands for reciprocity.

Support the development of Regional Economic Communities (RECs)

• Support REC enhancement. Appropriate funds to support RECs and the African Union in their goal of an African Economic Community (AEC) replete with an economic monetary union -- a high priority of the African Global Competitiveness Initiative at USAID -- by renewing and enhancing resources for REC support.
• Introduce a regional component to MCC. Ensure the new mandate for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) requires a certain percentage of funding for projects on a regional basis or alternative provisions with the same intent.
• Deepen cooperation with the African Union (AU). Develop a proactive policy with the AU to support, inter alia, implementation of the Abuja Treaty for the attainment of the African Economic Group, and in Geneva to assure a mutually beneficial outcome at the Doha Round.

House Foreign Affairs Committee: U.S. Policy in Africa

On March 24, the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing on U.S. policy in Africa. The key witness was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson. Much of the discussion focused on human rights issues and whether the continent is experiencing a decline in democracy.

On the subject of trade, Ambassador Carson said that the Obama administration is working closely with African partners to maximize opportunities under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). He highlighted the President’s Entrepreneurship Summit, scheduled for April 26-27, which will bring together African businesspeople and explore ways to promote private sector growth.

Princeton Lyman, former ambassador to South Africa and a Senior Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, argued that regional economic communities (RECs) are important for the future growth of African states. He praised the progress made by the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). He expressed concern that the European Union’s bilateral agreements with some states are threatening the unity of RECs. Ambassador Lyman also noted that African governments are siding against the United States in the WTO’s Doha negotiations, and he called for the U.S. to take a broader perspective on trade with Africa in the context of the WTO. He also called for more coordination on trade policy between government agencies such as State, USTR and USAID.

Witney Schneidman, President of Schneidman & Associates International, recommended that Congress grant tax credits to American companies that invest in AGOA eligible countries (excepting extractive industry investment). He quoted an estimate that for every $1 deferred in U.S. taxes, $5 in African income would be produced. In order to build support for African RECs, Dr. Schneidman also recommended that senior U.S. officials hold a joint annual meeting with the heads of the RECs.

Review Uganda's Trade Status

Senator Wyden in his press release to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) requested to revoke the beneficiary status under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). This is recommended as the Ugandan Parliament is considering a Anti Homosexuality Bill that would imprison Ugandan citizens for being Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual or Transgender. The the bill if turned into law will have the potential for death penalty in cases of "aggravated homosexuality." If Uganda passes this law, it would be a violation of AGOA provision which stipulates that the beneficiaries not to be involved in "gross violations of internationally recognized human rights."

Under AGOA Uganda has duty frees status for its exports to United States. Removal of this status will adversely affect its textile, handicrafts and cut flower industry among others. This year, Madagascar, Guinea and Niger lost their beneficiary status under AGOA. It would be an interesting development to see what the Obama Administration decides on Uganda.