Economist Expects U.S. to Reinstate Ethiopia’s AGOA Privilege

March 15, 2023

BY HAILE DEMEKE

ADDIS ABABA -The U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken’s official visit to Ethiopia is a good opportunity to restore the latter’s status to a member of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) , Ethiopian economist said. In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald Economist Costantinos Berhetesfa (PhD) said that Ethiopia was suspended from AGOA last year due to the conflict which has affected many workers across the country.

The economist elucidated that the U.S. should re-examine the revocation of Ethiopia from AGOA in a bid to deepen its long-standing ties with Ethiopia. Ethiopia used to be benefited a lot from the duty free market that hundreds of thousands  of women were engaging in industry works, thereby supporting their family and generating huge foreign currency, he said. As to him, AGOA plays a key role in industrial development, attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), creating huge jobs, acquiring knowledge and technology exchange and others apart from generating foreign currency for Ethiopia.

“The primary purpose of AGOA is that supporting developing African countries thereby providing duty-free treatment to goods and promoting economic growth through good governance and free markets instead of providing aid to African countries. The market is important for both African countries and the U.S. and over 7,000 items of goods has been included in duty free market in which Ethiopia is highly engaged in textile,” he reiterated.

“The two countries have been enjoying strong bilateral relations which last for over 100 years and the reinstatement of AGOA will further deepen the relations.” On the other hand, the establishment of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a good opportunity for Ethiopia to seize other markets. However, AGOA is among the core economic cooperation between the two countries, and the U.S. government needs to re-examine its measure and reinstates Ethiopia’s AGOA opportunity.

AGOA brings Ethiopia about millions of USD and directly generates employment for about hundreds of thousands of people mostly women working in textile factories that export to the U.S.. Accordingly, Ethiopia was suspended from the United States’ tariff-free AGOA last year in connection with the conflict in the northern part of the country. The suspension of Ethiopia from the market highly affected the country’s economy.

THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD WEDNESDAY 15 MARCH 2023