ONE’s Africa Director Dr. Sipho Moyo reflects on some of the lessons learned at this year’s African Growth and Development Act Forum in Lusaka, Zambia. The outcomes of this event will help guide trade between the US and Africa.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the AGOA Forum in Lusaka, Zambia. Photo courtesy of the State Department
Barrett Ward is the founder of the fashionABLE, a Nashville-based fashion company that does trade with Africa in order to bolster economic opportunities for the most vulnerable. In this blog post, he shares how the economic model of his company helps provide jobs, skills and wages to Africans.
Let’s talk seriously about the solutions to poverty.
Before the African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum in Lusaka, Zambia, we asked Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, about his thoughts on AGOA. Congressman Royce is a well known expert on Africa and a strong proponent of trade as a tool to fight extreme poverty. This is what he said:
“AGOA has been one of the United States’ most effective policy initiatives in Africa. I have seen first-hand how it has benefited tens of thousands of Africans by providing them with employment. Many are women supporting large families.
On a broader level, AGOA has encouraged economic and political reform in African countries through its eligibility standards. This has helped improve business climates, promoting trade with the U.S. Trade increases have helped improve infrastructure, as well as health and education services. AGOA has begun an important trade and investment dialogue between the U.S. and African countries through its annual forum. I have been fortunate to participate in several forums, which aim to better integrate Africa into the global economy.
Our friends from the Whitaker Group, a US firm focused on creating sustainable prosperity in Africa, outlines three major takeaways from last week’s AGOA Forum.
Being on the ground to mark the 10th AGOA Forum in Lusaka this past week, surrounded by business, government and non-governmental leaders dedicated to a trade and investment approach to African prosperity, gave us ample opportunity to reflect on how the relationship between Africa and the US has changed over the last 11 years.
It also served as a reminder that the annual AGOA Forum remains one of the few places where African and American stakeholders can exchange ideas on how trade can most effectively support development. The AGOA Forum reserves time each year to build consensus toward action and to set the tone for activities over the coming year.
Earlier this week I stopped into the International Trade Exhibition to check in on some of the vendors and exhibitors. I was struck by one in particular — Fallsway Timbers Ltd — because of its beautiful displays of finished hardwood furniture, doors and flooring. I have to admit — I hadn’t thought much about African-made finished furniture and goods. I’ve always seen the hand-crafted kind, but Fallsway’s products were as modern-made and produced as any in the US or Europe.
A worker makes furniture at the West African Trade Hub.
Here’s a roundup of this week’s media clips from the 2011 African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) conference in Lusaka, Zambia.
Clinton Prepares for Economic-Oriented Africa Tour -Enhancing trade, development and regional security will be key priorities for U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on an Africa tour later this week. After a stop in the United Arab Emirates to discuss Libya, Secretary Clinton will start the Africa portion of her trip with a scheduled visit to Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, Friday. (VOA News, Addis Ababa)
US, Africans to try to meet on trade diversification - US officials said Wednesday they will meet African ministers next week in Zambia to try to boost and diversify African exports to the United States under an 11-year-old preferential trade deal. (AFP)
My colleague Nealon DeVore and I are in Lusaka attending the 10th AGOA Forum. Yesterday I participated on two panel discussions: the first was a private sector session on Financing Africa Industrial Development and the second was a civil society session titled The Next Generation. Nealon has already blogged about my participation on the Next Generation Panel, so my focus in this blog is on the first panel to which I happened to be drafted just shortly before it started.
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