Ghana's AGOA strategy aims to boost growth

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US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson joined officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry at a validation workshop on Ghana’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Strategy. The meeting brought producers, processors and exporters together with customs and government officials to discuss the implementation of Ghana’s AGOA Strategy, which aims to helps Ghanaian companies take advantage of AGOA, a trade preference provided by the US government to African countries allowing duty-free access to certain goods.

Ghana began developing the AGOA Strategy last year, following the renewal of AGOA for a 10-year period (2015 to 2025) by the US Congress. The strategy builds on Ghana’s National Export Strategy, which seeks to double the country’s non-traditional export earnings to $5 billion per year.

The AGOA Strategy aims to enable Ghana to make maximum use of opportunities under AGOA, with an emphasis on intensifying export development and diversification, a key initiative of the Government of Ghana’s 10-point Integrated Industrial Transformation Agenda.

It identifies Ghanaian industries with the greatest potential to benefit from AGOA. These industries include apparel, fisheries, horticulture, tropical fruits, specialty vegetables, root crops, vegetable fats (palm oil and shea butter), cocoa, handicrafts, and jewellery.

USAID works with the Ghanaian government and private sector to target key barriers to trade and investment and promote regional integration and trade competitiveness.

USAID works with the Ghanaian government and private sector to target key barriers to trade and investment and promote regional integration and trade competitiveness. It seeks to increase intra-regional African trade and exports to the United States and reduce the time it takes to import or export from ports to land-locked interiors on the continent.