Staff Reporter
THE United States (U.S.) House of Representatives has voted to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for another three years after the Act lapsed in September 2025.
AGOA allows more than 6,400 qualifying exports from eligible sub-Saharan African countries, including Namibia, to enter the U.S. market duty-free. Under the agreement, Namibia has exported a range of products such as fish, beef, charcoal, marble, grapes, and dates.
AGOA was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives this week by a vote of 340 to 54 and will now be sent to the U.S. Senate for approval. The U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman, Jason Smith, emphasised the strategic importance of AGOA.
“AGOA is one of our most valuable tools for securing our long-term economic and national security. An extended lapse in AGOA would be costly to U.S. leadership within the region, creating a void that malign actors like China and Russia will seek to fill,” Smith said.
The vote to renew AGOA follows a period of uncertainty about the programme’s future ahead of its expiration in September 2025, compounded by concerns that U.S. tariffs could undermine its preferential terms. The Minister of International Relations and Trade, Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, was among the leaders who raised concerns about the programme’s potential cessation and urged the U.S. government to extend it.
“As African countries, we are united in advocating for the extension of AGOA. We are bilateral partners, but I think the United States should also recognise the peculiarities and particularities of each African country,” Ashipala-Musavyi said at the time.
Picture for illustrative purposes only. Photo: Contributed
