The expiry of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is expected to disrupt Africa’s exports to the U.S., but PwC East Market Area Senior Partner Peter Ngahu sees it as a chance to accelerate trade within the continent.
Speaking at PwC’s Africa Tax Business Symposium in Mombasa, Ngahu urged African governments and businesses to seize the opportunity presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to deepen intra-African commerce.
“I think the challenge for African countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, is to strengthen intra-Africa trade,” said Ngahu. “This is to plug the gaps that we are seeing with reduced opportunities, particularly with exports to the U.S., in the new policy shift by the U.S.”
AGOA, introduced by former U.S. President Bill Clinton in May 2000, has been a cornerstone of trade between sub-Saharan Africa and the U.S. for 25 years, allowing duty-free access for products such as fuel, agricultural goods, and textiles. In 2023 alone, U.S. imports under AGOA totalled nearly $10 billion.
Ngahu emphasized the urgency of pivoting toward regional trade to address the challenges created by AGOA’s expiration while pointing out the stark disparity in trade within Africa compared to other regions.
“Intra-Africa trade in Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for less than 15 percent. It’s about 14.4 percent. And that is very low compared to what we see as intra-European trade, where intra-European trade is 66 percent of the trade that happens in Europe,” he said.
AGOA’s expiration has left many African countries, including Kenya and Lesotho, grappling with uncertainty. Of the 54 countries in Africa, 32 were eligible under the program in 2024. For many, the pact has been vital in driving exports, and its expiration has plunged thousands of factory workers into uncertainty.
Envoys from across the continent have recently travelled to Washington to lobby for AGOA’s renewal, with hopes for an extension still alive. A White House official told Reuters that President Donald Trump’s administration supports a one-year renewal of the pact, though the timeline and mechanism remain unclear.
Earlier reports suggested the extension might be tied to a stopgap U.S. government funding bill that failed to pass on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, PwC’s Africa Tax Business Symposium, in Mombasa has brought together government officials, business leaders, and policy experts to debate Africa’s tax environment, focusing on balancing predictability, fairness, and competitiveness.