Times Of Swaziland: ‘FLEXIBLE AGOA RULES CAN BENEFIT PRIVATE SECTOR’

‘FLEXIBLE AGOA RULES CAN BENEFIT PRIVATE SECTOR’
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Mhlengi Magongo on 15/12/2022 08:25:00


MBABANE – The African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade agreement expires
2025 for SACU member states and they want an extension.
SACU is the Southern African Customs Union; its members include Botswana,
Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Eswatini. The member states attended an AGOA
ministerial engagement yesterday at Washington DC in the United States of
America (USA) aimed at addressing AGOA related issues. Minister of Commerce,
Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo said it was SACU’s concerted view that an
early and long-term renewal of AGOA preferences was important and necessary to
prevent any disruptions to trade. He said a longer-term extension of AGOA beyond
2025 with less conditional ties which guarantees certainty would ensure
increased benefits for Sub-Saharan African Countries.
Khumalo said expanded product coverage with flexible Rules of Origin to enable
accumulation among sub-Saharan African Countries would also benefit the private
sector. The minister said this would ensure increased private sector investment
which could enhance market access to the U.S. market. “The value of total SACU
exports to the US declined from USD 9.5 billion in 2019 to USD 8.2 billion in
2020, while imports declined from USD 5.1 billion in 2019 to USD 4.8 billion in
2020. This could be attributed to the slowdown in economic activity as a result
of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
Season
Business Eswatini Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nathi Dlamini yesterday said
Eswatini was in the midst of a critical business season where rush orders have
to be made across the region and these orders have to be processed by workers in
order to meet extremely tight deadlines. He said they have persistently decried
sporadic disruptions as being unhelpful to the creation of job opportunities
which are desperately needed especially for young people. The African Growth and
Opportunity Act (AGOA) remains an important aspect to firms in reaching the
South African and U.S. markets. This was mentioned by the United State of
America Ambassador to Eswatini Jeanne M. Maloney during the Second Edition of
Eswatini Annual Exporter Awards organized by Eswatini Investment Promotion
Authority (EIPA) and Business Eswatini (BE).
The ambassador said Eswatini’s National Strategic Development Plan remains the
driving force of collaboration between the U.S. Government and the Kingdom of
Eswatini, which is boosting exports of proudly Eswatini-made products. She said
their Economic Growth Policy demonstrates the United States’ commitment to
promoting inclusive, sustained, and resilient economic growth in developing
countries. “The U.S. Government shares a vision with all our partners to
promote the role of private sector-led economic growth,” she said. Maloney
also mentioned that the U.S. Government supported the development of the AGOA
Utilization Strategy for Eswatini that was launched in March 2021.
She said it aimed to increase exports from Eswatini to the United States under
AGOA by at least 12 percent per year. “This is a goal that will benefit both
countries,” she said. She added that despite the turbulence caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic, Eswatini’s exports to South Africa grew by nearly 12
percent between 2020 and 2021, and they included drinks, sugar, timber, and
textiles.