Protect Africa from Asia - AGOA meeting participant

Accra, July 20, GNA - The United States government has been urged to create mechanisms within the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to protect Africa from the stiff export competition from Asia. Dr. Rosa M. Whitaker, President and CEO of the US-based Whitaker Group, presenting a paper on behalf of the US private sector at the closing of the 6th AGOA meeting in Accra on Thursday, noted that exports from China, India and Indonesia combined in the US market was higher than that of the whole of Africa.

"This calls for effective protection mechanism for poor African countries within the AGOA initiative - AGOA is worth protecting and we need to create a very sound trade environment to protect AGOA," she said.

Dr. Whitaker said the emphasis of AGOA should be shifted from just Less Developed Countries (LDCs) to the AGOA related Organisation of Economic Co-operation Development (OECDs), which was committed to assisting LDCs to face economic, social and governance challenges. She was of the view that such as a move would help to cushion Africa from the stiff competition from the Asian giants. Dr. Whitaker also recommended that countries like China, India and Brazil, who were major exports to the US, should be asked to provide AGOA type gestures to Africa to enable the continent to share in the benefits they derived.

She said the US government and private sector should also support Africa to process more of its raw materials to ensure that the continent exported more value added products, adding the US government should also support Africa with capacity building.

Ms. Vernice Guthrie, a Representative of the US Civil Society, called for the removal of subsidies on US-made products that compete with the 6,400 products under AGOA to give Africa a fair competition in the states.

She said the focus of AGOA should ultimately be to empower communities in Africa, adding that, in that regard there was need to lay emphasis on public awareness about AGOA in African communities through very open information sharing.

Ms Guthrie also called for financial support from both African and the US governments to AGOA related civil society organisations to enable them play their role in ensuring that policies detrimental to African economies were exposed and good ones promoted through public discourse and education.

Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Representative of the African private sector, noted that the US and the western media had over the years given Africa very bad publicity, saying that to protect Africa from the unfavourable world economic order it was imperative for the US and African private sectors to team up with the media to change the wrong perception about Africa.

Ms Susan Schwab, US Trade Representative and Leader of the US delegation, said AGOA represented US commitment to Africa with respect to deepening US/African trade relations.

She noted that the 6th meeting had been different in terms of its focus on problem solving more than raising issues. "We have looked at ways to provide support for Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs), provide trade infrastructure, standards, technical assistance and capacity building among others so that we both reap the full benefit of AGOA," she said.

She assured African states that the US government and private sector placed priority on AGOA and would ensure that in the coming years the commitment would be strengthened and deepened.

Mr. Alan Kyeremanten, Minister of Trade, Industry, Private Sector and President's Special Initiative, noted that AGOA was an instrument for stimulating economic growth in Africa, saying, "it promises to be one of the most powerful tools for economic reconstruction and revival in Africa."

He said the tripartite nature of the 6th meeting, characterised by the inclusion of civil society, private and government was to shift focus from a government to government initiative, saying that it contributed to the rich discussion during the forum. He praised the organisers from both the Ghana and US sides for their hard work.

Kenya offered to host the 3rd Ministerial Consultative Meeting next year, while by tradition the US would host the 7th AGOA Forum also next year.

The meeting brought together at least 2,000 African and US state actors, private sector players and civil society to discuss ways of improving the benefits of AGOA since its launch in 2001. AGOA would last till 2015.

President John Agyekum Kufuor had called for an extension of the period but the US had not said whether they would extend or not. Out of 6,400 product range open for export from Africa under AGOA on a tariff-free, duty-free basis, only 3,800 were being exported currently.