A US House committee has voted to extend AGOA for one year, but it must still be approved by the House of Representatives, which might only happen in 2026 ... .
‘The reality is that on our side we have been, in my view, a lot less proactive than we should have been and could have been’ says Dr Iraj Abedian, economist and founder of Pan-African Investment Services ... .
AGOA has been framed for decades as development assistance, yet its structure functions as a geopolitical leash ... AGOA institutionalised the idea that Africa must continually prove itself to the United States ... AGOA normalised this asymmetry.
South Africa is committed to ensuring that it is included in any extension of US trade initiative, a trade ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday ... .