The African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA is a piece of legislation that was approved by the U.S. Congress in May 2000 with the stewardship of former President Bill Clinton.

The stated purpose of this legislation is to assist the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa and to improve economic relations between the United States and the region.

After completing its initial 15-year period of validity, AGOA legislation was extended on 29 June 2015 by a further 10 years, to 2025.

During an exclusive interview with Mrs. Susan Muhwezi Kabonero, the Senior Presidential Advisor on African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) at her office in Kampala stressed a need for private sector to focus on improvement of the value of their products and volume as it will help them increase the returns on sale on their products exported to the US.Display of some of the products at AGOA-Uganda Country Response Office that Uganda exports to the United States market through the Private sector & Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)/Courtesy Photo.

Susan stresses that the Act in its making targets job creation, eradication of poverty and trade majorly for the private sector not necessarily the government in particular therefore being an opportunity for them to explore the ready huge market in the US.

She says AGOA provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for over 6,000 products and that coffee, cut flowers, fish, and textiles and apparel are high-value sectors on demand and goods like shea butter, crafts, casein, shea seeds, baskets, ceramics, samia tea, toys, sesames, cotton shirts and others are being exported to the US.

She adds that however exporters should research for proper information that stipulates their trading with the US. She says for example they should conform with Ugandan laws and regulations that govern the export process, and Laws and regulations that govern the destination country’s imports, in this case, the U.S.

She notes that these regulations however also vary according to the product being exported so exporters must research to ensure that their product meets the necessary requirements for export.Mrs. Susan Muhwezi Kabonero holds and explains the “AGOA 101″  booklet-a National Strategy pending approval by parliament that is aimed at being a bible for consultation by the exporters of different products through AGOA to the US/Courtesy Photo.

She highlighted that, before, Uganda had a poor record in the international trade, exporting raw materials like copper, gold, agricultural materials like coffee, cotton and tea and these would not give exporters a comparative advantage in the market. She added that South Africa that exported automobiles, Nigeria for oils, Kenya for fruits and flowers, Lesotho and Swaziland for candles are the countries that benefited in AGOA.

“The other bottleneck was that the cost of doing business was high since Uganda had no direct flight to the US just like Ethiopian Airlines and Kenyan Airways at the time, now that Uganda acquired the national carrier, we are optimistic that it will be able to have direct flights to the US which will ease the cost of doing business”. She stated. Mrs. Susan Muhwezi Kabonero, Presidential Advisor on African Growth and Opportunity Act, (AGOA) tours Kabuubi Media Africa journalist, Julius Mugaga around AGOA Offices to observe different products & experience the potential of Ugandans in the AGOA-US Market/Courtesy Photo.

She said, currently companies like Amos diaries exports casein from milk, dried fruits by Jacana Fruits Company, Fine Spinners adding value on cotton-producing jeans, T-Shirts, Shirts and the like, Samia tea by Samia, Coffee from Eastern Uganda, crafts by SMEs and others.

Muhwezi emphasized that, AGOA has really performed well in private sector and SMEs entities as they have gotten information and skills regarding what is required as these have gotten training from East African Business Hub especially for those dealing in crafts.

She continues to inform that negotiations and advocacy are ongoing to engage the US Embassy through United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to help in capacity building  amongst the private sector and government ministries, Departments and agencies (MDA’s) to build synergies like Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) with Ministry of Trade, Industries and Cooperatives (MTIC) then Uganda Export Promotions Board (UEPB) with Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) for increased productivity, harnessing market and ensuring quality of products.Mrs. Susan Muhwezi Kabonero displays amazingly high quality and nice looking local products that are generating chunks of money to Ugandan exporters duty-free in the US Market/Courtesy Photo.

In her conclusive remarks, Mrs. Susan informs that as AGOA Uganda Country Response Office has developed AGOA National Strategy codenamed AGOA 101 that will be helping in identifying products that players in the market can concentrate on adding value and a bible of consultation for all Private sectors and SMEs for all the needs and requirements of the market through AGOA.

She says AGOA was short-lived at 5 years with constant renewal after that time but in 2015, they advocated for a 10 year renewal period which was granted but still there is need for more years since it’s doing well.