WASHINGTON – United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai today announced she will host a meeting of sub-Saharan African trade ministers and senior officials on December 13, 2022. The ministerial meeting will occur during the week of the United States-Africa Leaders’ Summit that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris announced last week. The meeting will discuss expanding trade and investment relations and implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
“The 2022 Africa Growth and Opportunity Act Ministerial Meeting will be a valuable opportunity to re-affirm the United States’ engagement with the continent,” said Ambassador Katherine Tai. “I look forward to welcoming my fellow trade ministers to Washington, D.C. this December for productive and thoughtful discussions on the future of this important relationship.”
The meeting will also provide a critical platform for discussing ways to strengthen economic cooperation between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa. USTR intends to share perspectives on key issues impacting U.S.–African trade as well as other multilateral trade issues.
Following the December 13th Ministerial, the next meeting of the annual United States-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (AGOA Forum) will be held in South Africa in 2023.
BACKGROUND
Since it was signed into law in May 2000, AGOA has served as the cornerstone of the U.S. economic engagement with sub-Saharan Africa. It has helped drive investment on the continent, created hundreds of thousands of jobs, promoted regional integration and enhanced Africa’s export competitiveness. The program also has provided incentives to African governments to undertake key political and economic reforms.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, total two-way goods trade with sub-Saharan Africa totaled $44.9 billion in 2021 (most recent data available), a 22 percent increase from $36.8 billion in 2019.
U.S. outward foreign direct investment (FDI) stock in sub-Saharan Africa stood at $30.31 billion in 2021 (most recent data available), a 5.3 percent decrease from 2019.
###
