Big ups for Rep. Karen Bass! She is the ranking member of the Africa sub-committee in Congress (proper name Sub-Committee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations). As such, she is the number-one congressional advocate for increasing ‘trade, not aid’ benefits from the USA to Africa. For the past few years, she remained the primary “go-to” person for the successful renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which was signed last week by President Barack Obama for a 10-year renewal. If you have to be in a legislative fight, Rep. Bass is the one you want in your corner. She gets it done and she does not give up. She is the model of real representation in today’s U.S. Congress.
Getting AGOA renewed was the end result of a long, tortuous legislative struggle. AGOA was threatened with expiration by Sept. 30, 2015 if Congress hadn’t acted, and getting Congress to move forward on any legislation, let alone something that would help Black folk, simply does not happen often anymore. It should be noted that AGOA had a large majority of bi-partisan support in Congress, the support of President Obama and the strong recommendation of the African Union, most African Diaspora organizations, and virtually every one of the 55-current African heads of state. And it was still a heavy load to the end.
AGOA is a program created during the Bill Clinton Administration in 2000 and fully supported during the current two terms of President Obama. It is now the center-piece of USA policy to broaden trade and investment opportunities between Africa and this country, and to reduce poverty in Africa. It was renewed and revised in 2002 during the Bush Administration.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) creates a trade preference program that provides duty-free access for more than 6,500 African products into the U.S. marketplace. African countries have to maintain eligibility for the program, and the U.S. president can remove or renew such eligibility based on a country’s adherence to governmental reforms and human rights concerns. For example, President Obama recently restored the Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire) to the eligibility list while simultaneously removing Swaziland and Madagascar. Currently, 39 of Africa’s 44 sub-Saharan countries are eligible for AGOA participation.
In general, to be eligible for AGOA trade preferences, a sub-Saharan African country must protect human and labor rights, take steps to reduce governmental and business corruption, demonstrate the enhancement of the rule of law in the country, demonstrate substantial progress towards the development of a national market-based economy, and be open to U.S. trade and investment efforts. According to current USA governmental data, eligible African countries have exported nearly $480 billion worth of goods to the United States under AGOA in the 15 years of the program’s existence.
In 2014 alone, AGOA exports to the USA, including mainly oil-based products, agricultural, apparel, and metal products totaled more than $14 billion. AGOA has stimulated the major growth of textile and apparel manufacturing in a number of African countries, such that many trousers and pants available at retailers like Wal-Mart are now coming from Ghana, Ethiopia and the Ivory Coast. AGOA has also facilitated new business investment in Africa, and led to the creation of more than 350,000 direct jobs and 1 million indirect jobs in Africa. According to the International Trade Administration in the Department of Commerce, AGOA has also contributed to more than $50.2 billion of U.S. exports to the African countries, which also supported the creation or maintenance of at least 50,000 American jobs. In addition to supporting economic development across the continent, AGOA continues to promote African economic and governance reform, it encourages expanded African engagement on trade capacity building, and it fosters more goodwill between the United States and Africa.
Thank you Rep. Bass and all of the others who participated in this renewal victory. This is what viable, effective representation is all about.
Professor David L. Horne is founder and executive director of PAPPEI, the Pan African Public Policy and Ethical Institute, which is a new 501(c)(3) pending community-based organization or non-governmental organization (NGO). It is the stepparent organization for the California Black Think Tank which still operates and which meets every fourth Friday.
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