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Ministers call for AGOA fund to
support SMEs
Accra, July 18, GNA - Mr. Alan Kyerematen, Minister of
Trade, Industry, PSD and PSI, told a press conference at the
ongoing 6th African Growth and Opportunity Act(AGOA) meeting
in Accra on Wednesday of a proposed idea of the setting up
an AGOA fund to support Small and Medium-scale Enterprises
that export to the US market.
The proposal was one of six
recommendations that African ministers attending the
conference put on the table to enhance eligible countries'
capacity to benefit from the preferential trade arrangement.
that the idea of the fund was one of six recommendations that the
ministers were putting on the table to enhance eligible
countries' capacity to benefit from the preferential trade
arrangement.
He noted that the challenge that faced African countries in
their effort to fully access AGOA was that of low supply
capacity, saying that the six-point proposal was therefore
intended to trigger US support in the areas of capacity
building, technical assistance and foreign direct investment
(FDI) among others.
"We propose that there should be an increased FDI from the
US into Africa, that the US should support Africa with
technical assistance in the areas of capacity building, that
there should be an awareness creation drive in both the US
and in Africa about AGOA and that there should be a more
predictable program that would ensure a sustained engagement
between Africa and the US government over the next eight
years that AGOA would last for," he said.
Mr. Kyerematen said the on-going meeting had got to a good
start and he was confident that it would be the most
successful AGOA meeting in terms of concrete initiatives
towards enhancing Africa's capacity to fully access AGOA.
He challenged African countries to diversify their export
base to enable them to compete favourably with the other
major exporters into the US market like China.
Ms. Susan Schwab, US Trade Representative and Head of the US
delegation to the AGOA meeting, noted that out of 6,400 AGOA
products range available for export from Africa, only 3,800
were currently being shipped from African shores to the US.
She assured the ministers of the commitment of US President
George Bush to sustain AGOA, saying that the high US
congressional vote in support of AGOA was indicative that
even after President George Bush, the US would continue to
support AGOA.
Ms. Schwab, who is leading 139 officials and technical
experts from 16 states, private sector and civil society
institutions from the US, said the benefits of AGOA had
doubled since its launch in 2001 to 44 billion dollars.
"We are here to take stock of progress made so far with the
AGOA and to stimulate better performance in the coming
years," she said.
About 2000 participants from governments, the private sector
and civil societies in the US and in AGOA-eligible African
countries are attending the meeting to discuss ways and
means to increase trade and investment between the US and
sub-Saharan Africa.
GNA
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