AGOA’s Sunset Sparks Rethink of U.S.–Africa Trade Future

As the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) quietly expired on 30 September, uncertainty looms over U.S.–Africa trade ties, though business leaders and policy experts insist this is “no cliff edge,” as African Report calls it — but a wake-up call.
At the recent Global Africa Summit in Washington, D.C., U.S. trade advisors said African nations must now diversify beyond AGOA, the 25-year-old deal that granted duty-free access to the United States. “Under this administration, access to the US market has become harder for African entrepreneurs,” said summit organizer Jane Osei, citing tightened visa rules and cutbacks to USAID. But “Africa has learned to stand on its own two feet,” she added. AGOA’s decline has been long in the making. According to the International Trade Centre, only 21.3% of Africa’s U.S. exports used AGOA in 2024, with oil dominating. The apparel sector — key for nations like Kenya and Lesotho — faces sharp disruption, with new U.S. tariffs doubling to 20% or more on average.
As a recent analysis in African Business pointed out, “with the future of the expired tariff-free trade act mired in uncertainty, U.S. experts say there are other ways to boost US-Africa trade.” Analysts also argue that AGOA’s design failed many African businesses. “AGOA was intended to help Africa develop — but in many cases, it ended up doing the opposite,” said Charles De Bow of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Echoing these concerns is former US Commerce Department official Terri Batch who said that “if you ask who really benefited from AGOA, it was the big companies” — “small and medium-sized African businesses don’t know how to leverage it.”