
CCA considers the African Growth and
Opportunity Act (AGOA) to be the most important
U.S.-Africa trade legislation ever enacted.
Since AGOA’s inception in 2000 and beginning in
2001, CCA has convened various private sector
activities related to each annual AGOA Forum, held
both in Africa and in the United States. Recent
AGOA-related actions by CCA are detailed below.
2010 AGOA Forum, Washington, D.C., and Kansas
City, Missouri, August 2-6, 2010
CCA hosted the United States Department of State’s
African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP)
participants for business networking luncheons in
Washington and Kansas City. AWEP participants came
from 37 AGOA-accredited countries and were selected
by the State Department for the program, which
provided the women with skills to succeed further as
business leaders, lobby their countries’ governments
to enact pro-growth reforms and identify potential
American business partners for long term commercial
relationships. The luncheons were sponsored by CCA
members Chevron, Export Trading Group and Polsinelli
Shughart. To see profiles of AWEP participants and
other information on the AWEP program,
(click here
and here).
2009 AGOA Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, August 3-6, 2009
The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce,
acted as U.S. private sector coordinator for the 8th Annual African Growth and Opportunity Act
(AGOA) Private Sector Forum at the Kenyatta
International Conference Center in Nairobi, Kenya. The theme for the forum
was “Realizing the Full Potential of AGOA through
Expansion of Trade and Investment.”
The United States and Africa: Policy Recommendations
from the American Private Sector for the Obama
Administration
In March 2009, CCA released and issued a report from
the American Private sector to the Obama
Administration on future U.S. policy toward Africa.
The recommendations included strategies to expand
AGOA to include additional product coverage, and
provide infrastructure support to beneficiaries to
improve capacity and to produce a broader array of
AGOA–eligible products.
Read more>>
About AGOA
AGOA was
signed into law by President Bill Clinton on May 18, 2000 as Title
1 of The Trade and Development Act of 2000. The law
offers tangible incentives for African countries to
continue their efforts to open their economies and
build free markets. Participation in AGOA requires
that beneficiary countries commit themselves to the
establishment of a market-based economy, the rule of
law and policies to reduce poverty.
To learn more, visit
www.agoa.gov |