Musings From Abroad

US Treasury Chief, Adeyemo wants Congress to extend US-Africa trade programme, AGOA

Published

1 year ago

November 10, 2023

United States Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo has expressed hope that the US Congress will extend the US-Africa trade programme— the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Under the AGOA arrangement, exports are permitted from qualifying African countries with duty-free access to the US market, highlighting the strategic opportunities in the region.

AGOA, which was introduced in 2000, allows exports from eligible nations duty-free access to the American market. Although talks about whether and for how long to extend it are already underway, it is scheduled to expire in September 2025. But Congress has been divided on the modalities around the likely extension of the programme.

Adeyemo, during a press conference, admitted that the programme had played an important in Africa and should be extended.

“I hope that Congress will act to make sure that we continue to have tools that allow us to deepen our trade with Africa,” he said.

“It matters to us. We need to seize the huge opportunity that it is for us to engage with Africa, a continent with a burgeoning young population that is central to many of our economic and national security interests as well.”

A United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, during a visit to South Africa last week where she met trade ministers from Africa, said the US was in search of a “more useful and effective” trade programme with Africa.

Speaking on investors’ interest in the Nigerian market, Adeyemo, who is of Nigerian descent, said “They want to do more business in Nigeria, but to do so, Nigeria has to make the type of economic reforms that make it easier for foreign direct investment to come in and for money to get out”.

Research indicates that in certain countries, particularly for women, AGOA has contributed to the reduction of poverty and the creation of jobs. However, between 2014 and 2021, just five countries accounted for over 75% of duty-free non-petroleum exports to the US under the programme: South Africa, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, and Ethiopia.

In an attempt to draw attention to the importance of Africa and counter any threats China and Russia may pose to US interests there, Washington is eager to regain its declining influence on the continent.

Related Topics:Adewale-Wally-Adeyemo Africa Featured US

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Musings From Abroad

Seeking to expand ties in Africa, Indonesia’s Prabowo attends D-8 economic meeting in Egypt

Published

17 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to the government, Indonesian President, Prabowo Subianto, travelled to Egypt on Tuesday to attend meetings of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, a group of eight significant Muslim developing nations.

To enhance collaboration between the nations spanning from Southeast Asia to Africa, the D-8 was formed in 1997 and consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. Beginning in January 2026, Indonesia will serve as the group’s chair.

Prabowo said that he would meet with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the president of Egypt.

“Egypt is our close friend, our strategic partner and an important country in the Middle East,” he said before his departure, adding he would also meet the Egyptian business community.

He would go to Malaysia from Egypt and then return to Indonesia.

Since taking office in October, Prabowo has stated that his administration will uphold Indonesia’s long-standing non-alignment foreign policy.

Since winning the presidency earlier this year, he has been to more than 20 nations, including China, the US, Japan, and Russia.

Musings From Abroad

UN warns Sudan rebels may be getting weapons in Chad from UAE cargo planes

Published

5 days ago

December 14, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Flight data and satellite photographs reveal that dozens of UAE cargo planes have landed at a small Chad airstrip since Sudan’s civil war began last year, which some U.N. experts and diplomats fear is being used to transport guns into the fight.

At least 86 UAE planes have landed at Amdjarass airfield in eastern Chad since the war started in April 2023.

According to flight data and business records examined by Reuters, three-quarters of them were operated by airlines accused by the U.N. of transporting Emirati weaponry to a Libyan warlord.

The UAE, a key Western partner in the Middle East, insists it sends Sudan aid through Chad, not armaments.

The UAE denied “credible” allegations that it was supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese army in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, via the Chad airstrip in January.

Reuters uncovered footage from Amdjarass this year, revealing two pallets loaded with khaki containers, some labelled with the UAE flag, on the tarmac.

Reuters is obscuring the footage’s date and provenance for fear of reprisals.

Three weapons specialists, two of whom were U.N. inspectors, said the containers were unlikely to convey humanitarian material, generally bundled in cardboard boxes coated in plastic and stacked high on pallets due to its lightweight. The footage shows metal containers packed low on pallets.

One U.N. weapons inspector said the contents were “highly probably ammunition or weapons, based on the design and colour of boxes,” but requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.

He stated that right-hand pallet cases are long and slender, suggesting weaponry.

Reuters could not independently verify the containers’ contents. The filming date is being withheld to protect the source.

The UAE government told Reuters it has deployed 159 relief planes with more than 10,000 tonnes of food and medical assistance to feed its Amdjarass field hospital.

“We firmly reject the baseless and unfounded claims regarding the provision of arms and military equipment to any warring party since the beginning of the conflict,” the statement said.

To counter Islamist militants, the oil-rich Gulf kingdom has interfered in crises from Yemen to Libya since the Arab Spring protests of 2011. The UAE views Muslim Brotherhood and other groups as threats to internal stability.

In Sudan’s army, Islamists affiliated with deposed President Omar al-Bashir have long held power.

Senior RSF official Brigadier General Omar Hamdan rejected foreign help. He told Nairobi media on Nov. 18 that Sudanese firms made its guns and ammunition. The RSF declined to comment on this topic.