13 Dec 2022

Botswana stands ready to negotiate the easing and reviewing of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

 This was said by Minister of Trade and Industry Mr Mmusi Kgafela in an interview ahead of the US-Africa Leaders’ summit which opened in Washington DC yesterday.

  He revealed that a ministerial meeting was scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the summit to discuss ways of expanding trade and investment relations as well as AGOA implementation.

Noting that AGOA was previously not fully exploited in Botswana, the minister said he would use the opportunity to negotiate for more collaboration with US companies in sectors such as beef and leather industries.

He therefore underscored the importance of producing goods for the American palate.

Mr Kgafela said Botswana was considering to leverage its participation in the automobile industry through use of leather products for luxury vehicles and the fashion industry.

He said America was interested in high end leather apparels that played a major role in their fashion industry.

Collaboration in that space could spur opportunities through development of value chains, he said.

Minister Kgafela said Botswana also planned exploring ways of export agricultural produce to the American market.

“We need to find ways to explore the space within meat processing too because Botswana is endowed with one of the best beef in the world,” he said.

He said there was need to identify projects that could be tapped into through AGOA in line with government’s policy focus on addressing challenges faced by enterprises.

Mr Kgafela said during other side engagements, Botswana would share perspectives on key issues that could impact on its industrialisation strategy and discuss planned programmes.

 “When seeing those advanced showing interest in us, we could not let this opportunity pass us. We are here to tell them our aspirations and we want partnerships with them,” he said.

Minister Kgafela said America presented a unique opportunity to encourage African countries to collaborate with US companies to access their market and change the aid narrative.

He also underscored the importance of Botswana positioning itself to reap the benefits brought about by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The agreement, he said, promised deepening economic integration and creating a single market for almost 1.3 billion people across Africa adding ‘and we should be seen positioning ourselves for that’.

He said Africa as a whole was aggressively forging partnerships with America and therefore Botswana could not miss out on such an opportunity.

Mr Kgafela said the renewed US strategy towards Sub Saharan Africa was seen as a beacon of hope for most African countries reeling from the economic shocks brought about by COVID-19.

He said Botswana would use the platform to engage with the US government on projects that could revitalise the economy and tap into opportunities presented by the strategy.

Minister Kgafela said the forum also offered Botswana a chance to engage on trade and investment promotion and new joint initiatives with the US.

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi is among close to 50 African heads of state and government invited to the summit by President Joe Biden.

The aim is to discuss US-Africa relations and cooperation on shared global priorities. BOPA