(Graphic: John McCann)
The House of Representatives in the United States has voted to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) for a further three years, amid heightened geopolitical competition with China, Africa’s largest trading partner.
It is, however, not yet clear whether South Africa, which has clashed with President Donald Trump’s administration in the past year over policy differences, will remain a beneficiary of the Act. It was enacted in 2000 to provide duty-free access to the US market for eligible sub-Saharan African countries.
The programme, which lapsed on 30 September last year, had been expected to end as part of broader US funding cuts, but the renewal bill will now be sent to the Senate for consideration. The extension was approved by a vote of 340 to 54 in the House of Representatives.
As tensions simmer between Washington and Pretoria, the US last year slapped a 30% tariff on South African exports. Trump also boycotted the G20 leaders’ summit in Johannesburg and South Africa faces the possibility of exclusion from the US-hosted G20 summit this year.
According to a US House of Representatives committee, Agoa is meant to “protect and strengthen America’s strategic, economic, and national security interests — including access to critical minerals found outside the United States”.
It said Agoa also forms a central part of Washington’s strategy to counter Chinese and Russian economic influence and coercion on the African continent.
The Agoa extension was passed alongside the Hope/Help Bill, which “advances stability in the Western Hemisphere by providing economic opportunity for the people of Haiti, a nation less than 700 miles from the United States that has a history of humanitarian crises”.
“Agoa and Hope/Help for Haiti are long-standing trade programmes that serve America’s economic and national security interests,” said Jason Smith, the chairperson of the House committee. “With today’s vote, I’m glad that these programmes continue their history of bipartisan support.”
These programmes are key for countering the threats to America’s strategic and economic security posed by China and Russia in Africa and by turmoil inside Haiti, Smith said.
“This is particularly important when it comes to securing our nation’s supply chains and access to critical minerals.
“A swift re-authorisation will ensure the United States can support reliable trading partners and deny nations that seek to exploit resources and spread harmful influence around the world more room to advance their interests.”
Agoa has long served as the economic framework governing trade relations between the US and sub-Saharan African countries. According to the House of Representatives, “the programme ensures beneficiaries do not undermine US national security or foreign policy interests”.
The House warned that a lapse in Agoa “would create a void that malign actors like China and Russia will seek to fill”, noting that “China has invested $8 to $10 billion in Africa to try to monopolise these essential supply chains”.
“The Trump administration has focused on stability in Africa, most recently evidenced by President Trump’s work to secure peace between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the administration’s announcement of a strategic partnership agreement with the DRC to develop critical minerals,” it added.