Will Donald Trump’s presidency negatively affect Africa?
The facts suggest that it is very unlikely that Agoa will be cancelled as there would be little direct benefit for the US in doing so, writes Kathy Davey
Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago was asked at Davos what he thought about the new wave of protectionism that is a potential threat to global trade. He reiterated what we all know: there is no clear US policy yet, so we can only really speculate based on tweets and rhetoric to date. The governor also pointed out that any significant change to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) agreement that reduces the benefits to African countries, was the key concern for the continent’s trade with the world’s largest economy. Although vocal on existing trade deals, US president-elect Donald Trump has mentioned very little with respect to his stance on trade with Africa. Perhaps this is because in 2015, nonoil and gas trade into the US under the Agoa agreement was only about $4.5bn, representing just 0.2% of the US’s total global trade and hence very insignificant for the country. Agoa is a trade agreement with the US that allows 38 eligible sub-Saharan African countries to export ...
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