06 May 2018

Botswana Investment Trade Centre (BITC) recently held a workshop to sensitise the business community about the potential export opportunities to the United States through the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).  

Speaking at the workshop, Ms Trunklinah Gabonthone from BITC said Botswana, through the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), launched a national AGOA response strategy in 2017 to enable the country to take advantage of and realise the full potential of the AGOA trade initiative for Batswana.

She highlighted the implementation of the AGOA national strategy as one that was aimed at increasing export competitiveness, diversify the economy and attract investment.

Ms Gabonthone said the AGOA national strategy, which was launched last September, was currently under implementation.

The strategy has identified potential sectors which are to export to the US market under the act, Ms Gabonthone said.

“These include horticulture and agro-processing, handicrafts (arts and crafts), jewellery and semi-precious stones, leather and leather products, natural (indigenous) products, meat and meat products and the textiles/ apparel sector,” she stated.

Botswana, which has been an eligible country under AGOA since 2000, had no company exporting to the US market in 2017, but in the first phase of AGOA, it had 13 companies exporting under the act.

Exporting textile and apparel products in its first phase, Botswana exporters’ had declining exports due to various challenges such as high transportation costs, lack of export incentives and stiff competition from the Asian market.

For his part, Mr George Makore from the Southern African Trade Hub said they offered support to exporters to the US markets.

“Our hub offers chain developments to sectors such as jewellery and agriculture as a way to develop the national AGOA response strategy of countries that are AGOA eligible,” Mr Makore said. He also outlined the requirements and regulations that Batswana exporters had to meet in order to trade with the US, and urged the business community to comply with them for ease of business.

Ms Mmantlha Sankoloba, chief executive officer (CEO) at Botswana Exporters and Manufacturers Association (BEMA), said the association was working hand in hand with government to continue beneficiation from AGOA.

She stated that they wanted to grow economic expansion, diversification and see SMME (small micro medium enterprises) succeed as well as grow competitively.

AGOA  is a unilateral trade preference programme for qualifying exports from eligible Sub-Saharan African countries and was enacted to enhance market access and to provide duty-free access into the US market with Botswana being an eligible country. Ends