Africa-Press – Eswatini. ESWATINI?seeks an extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act with fewer stringent conditions to foster diversification and economic growth.
This is according to Minister of commerce, industry and trade, Manqoba Khumalo.
Khumalo said this would create predictability for businesses, and thus attracting foreign direct investment from companies keen on accessing the US market through Eswatini.
The minister noted that Eswatini saw the decade-long AGOA extension as an advantage to the kingdom.
The deal, set to expire in 2025, grants duty-free access to the lucrative US market for a range of Eswatini exports, from sugar and apparel to handcrafted goods and food products.
“For Eswatini, an extension promises not just market stability but a chance to diversify its economy and create much-needed jobs,” said Khumalo.
He said the USA market remained very important for Eswatini as in 2022 exports to the US rose to US$23 million (equivalent to E438 681 300), a significant jump from US$18 million (equivalent to E343 359 000) in 2021.
The minister further indicated that sugar remains the dominant export, but sectors like processed vegetables and apparel are gaining traction.
“The market is largely dominated by sugar exports (61 per cent), followed by preparations of vegetable, nuts and fruits at 19 per cent, then articles of apparel and textiles at 14 per cent.
“The rest of products are handcraft and food processing,” said the Khumalo.
He noted that while AGOA’s benefits were undeniable, challenges remained.
The minister highlighted that stringent US safety and labour standards could prove daunting for local exporters.
However, there are rays of hope.
“The good thing is that AGOA has provisions to assist developing countries to meet these requirements,” he said. He said the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) TradeHub, in partnership with local government agencies, offered training and grants to help businesses comply with these requirements, saying this assistance has already benefitted food processing and cosmetics companies in Eswatini.
“The hub works with market actors to identify and resolve enterprise constraints and implement sustainable solutions through market-based trade and investment facilitation services. A number of Eswatini exporters in food processing, cosmetics etc have directly benefitted from these grants,” said the minister.
Economists have previously pointed out that Eswatini hasn’t fully exploited AGOA’s potential. responding to that, the minister said government, in a bid to counter this, had rolled out a National AGOA Utilisation Strategy.
“Eswatini has developed a National AGOA Utilisation Strategy and Action Plan in the spirit of private- and public-sector partnership to optimise the utilisation of AGOA through assistance from the TradeHub whose implementation has begun,” said Khumalo.
Assist
“EIPA is working with the hub to train exporters, assist companies to meet the exporting requirements, market Eswatini products in the USA, as well as assist to find buyers in the USA,” said Khumalo.
He further noted that the USAID ATI programme also had for the past two years collaborated with EIPA to run the Eswatini National Exporters Awards, for exporters who were targeting the US market.
The minister stated that the government’s multi-pronged approach, coupled with a potential decade-long extension, painted a promising picture for Eswatini’s economic future. “All these activities are ongoing and form part of the National AGOA Strategy Implementation Plan.
The government is also coming with a plan of action to increase the utilisation of the available markets in order to maximise exports, create job opportunities and boost economic growth with the ultimate goal of reducing poverty,” said Khumalo.
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