Africa’s Export Performance through AGOA
Since the legislation went into effect in 2000, exports under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) have increased by more than 500 pct, from USD8.15 billion in 2001 to USD53.8 billion in 2011. About 90 pct of these exports has been oil, which underscores Africa’s growing strategic importance to the United States.
Under AGOA, the volume of non-energy exports to the U.S., where the growth in jobs and economic development increased 275 pct, from USD1.2 billion to USD4.5billion between 2001 and 2011. The number of countries exporting non-energy products under AGOA has also increased, from 13 to 22 during this period. Exports from AGOA beneficiaries in 2011 were USD53.8 billion. This represents a 21.5 pct increase from 2010 results. Mineral fuels and crude oil drove this increase and accounted for 91.6 pct of AGOA exports in 2011.
The AGOA share of total U.S. imports, an amount totaling USD2.19 trillion in 2011, although still relatively small as an aggregate number, grew from 0.7 pct to 2.5 pct during this 10-year period. During the last 10 years, on average, more than 70 pct of Sub-Saharan Africa’s exports to the U.S. have been duty free under AGOA or Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
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