By John Ikani
The clock is ticking on efforts to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), as divisions within the US Congress have brought the process to a standstill.
Hopes were high among African diplomats and industry partners that the trade program’s renewal could be secured through a year-end budget deal in Washington. However, their strategy fell short.
In recent weeks, advocates for AGOA pushed hard to have its renewal language added to an emergency funding bill designed to avert a government shutdown on 20 December.
As a key pillar of US trade ties with sub-Saharan Africa, the program grants duty-free access to the US market for 32 eligible countries but is set to expire in September 2025.
Efforts to attach AGOA’s renewal to the Continuing Resolution budget bill centered on the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees trade policy.
Despite intense lobbying, the compromise bill released on 17 December omitted the provision entirely, The Africa Report has revealed.
While there is broad support for AGOA from both parties, internal disputes seem to have stalled its progress.
Democratic members of the Ways and Means Committee, led by Richard Neal of Massachusetts, expressed reluctance to rush the renewal without incorporating tougher labour and environmental protections.
On the Republican side, patience ran out after Democrats sought to prioritize other trade-related measures, including a deal with Haiti and assistance for American workers affected by global trade shifts.
Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, reiterated bipartisan support for AGOA alongside Democratic colleague Gregory Meeks of New York.
“I think the hold-up right now is that the Minority Leader [Hakeem Jeffries of New York] wants the Haiti portion in,” McCaul said. “I know the [Ways and Means] chairman [Jason] Smith very much wants the AGOA, which I support.”
A critical moment
The delay in AGOA’s renewal threatens billions of dollars in investments and thousands of jobs across Africa. Rising uncertainty has already prompted businesses, particularly in the textile sector, to scale back orders.
“US investors very much want AGOA reauthorised, because it affects their orders on the continent and the resiliency of their supply chains,” Prosper Africa Coordinator British Robinson tells The Africa Report.
Some groups, however, have welcomed the pause. The Coalition for a Prosperous America, an advocacy group in Washington, opposed tying AGOA’s renewal to the emergency funding bill, calling it inconsistent with the incoming administration’s trade goals. President-elect Donald Trump has yet to publicly comment on the program.
“Congress has no business resurrecting decade-long unilateral tariff cuts in the final hours of this session,” chairman Zach Mottl said in a statement. “Reviving these outrageous tariff waiver programmes is the opposite of putting America first.”
Since its formation in 2007, the coalition has dedicated nearly $1 million annually to lobbying, public records show. Among its lobbyists is Jon Toomey, a former legislative counsel to Diane Black, a retired Republican member of the Ways and Means Committee.
