The Third AGOA Civil Society Network Session of the Fourth US-sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Forum

AGOA: Empowering Civil Society Organizations to Build Economic Prosperity

Convened by: AGOA CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORK

When: July 18-20, 2005
Where: Dakar, Senegal

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) continues to foster the strengthening of the U.S. trade and economic relationship with the countries of sub-Saharan Africa and remains the cornerstone of the Bush Administration’s trade and investment policy toward sub-Saharan Africa.

The United States is sub-Saharan Africa’s largest single-country export market, accounting for 20 percent of the region’s total exports in 2002. Under AGOA, almost all imports from eligible sub-Saharan African countries enter the United States duty-free. According to the United States Trade Representative 2004 report to the U.S. Congress, in 2003 over 95 percent of the U.S. imports from AGOA-eligible countries entered duty-free. In the same year U.S. imports from sub-Saharan Africa rose by 43 percent to $25.6 billion with the four largest import categories being mineral fuel ($17.6 billion), precious stones and metals ($2.1 billion), apparel ($1.5 billion) and vehicles and parts ($776.8 million).

On January 1, 2005 the long expected World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Textile and Clothing (ATC) went into effect, removing all existing quotas on textiles and clothing entering the United States, the European Union and Japan. This bold step, some believe, will accelerate the emergence of a global free-market system, creating global opportunities.

Others believe that this will erode the gains made by sub-Saharan African countries in the apparel sector under AGOA, as evidenced by recent job layoffs, factory shutdowns, and foreign factory owners relocating their businesses.

The Third AGOA Civil Society Network Session of the Fourth US-sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Forum will examine the impact and challenges faced by AGOA, in light of the above and discuss the important contributions that Civil Society Organizations continue to make in the success of AGOA, and how CSO can better facilitate the effectiveness of AGOA.

The objectives of the CSO Forum are:

• Provide civil society organizations with the know-how to build the capacity of their countries to successfully export goods into the U.S. under AGOA
• Discuss the development of an index that assesses the link between economic opportunity and prosperity
• Discuss the importance of education and the role of the youth in ensuring sustained economic development
• Highlight and learn from AGOA success stories
• Learn more about the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), a new presidential initiative
• Discuss the impact of the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing on the level of trade between AGOA-eligible countries and the U.S.

Who Should Attend?

The third AGOA Civil Society Network Session of the fourth U.S.-sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum will bring together civil society organizations representing a wide range of issues and expertise from across the United States and the thirty-seven AGOA-eligible countries to discuss ways in which civil society organizations can play a significant role in enhancing AGOA’s effectiveness. Beyond discussions, this third CSO session will focus on practical application, inviting experts from various fields including trade, food safety, agriculture and many more to provide civil society participants with both tangible and intangible knowledge and skills that will allow them to assist their countries to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by AGOA and ensure that it achieves it’s goal of reducing poverty and improving the lives of people in AGOA-eligible countries. Participants will also discuss the importance of democratization, transparency and accountability, and the rule of law in implementing AGOA.

Challenges and Opportunities

• China’s entry into the WTO
• WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing
• Regional Transportation Infrastructure
• Agricultural capacity building
• Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)

AGOA Civil Society Network

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Civil Society Network was established in January 2003 following the AGOA Civil Society Forum in Mauritius. The AGOA Civil Society Network is a consortium of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), chambers of commerce and other groups in the United States and Africa that are interested in the successful application of AGOA for the benefit of the U.S. and African peoples.

This focus is with an eye towards improving the ease and understanding of U.S.-Africa trade and to fully utilizing the benefits of AGOA, thus securing a place for African countries in the global economy and raising the standards of living of the masses of Africa.

Mission
The mission of the network is to empower African people through their civil society organizations to work with governments and businesses to take maximum advantage of AGOA benefits on behalf of the citizens of their countries.

The network will accomplish this mission through three means:

1. Monitoring compliance with AGOA eligibility requirements;
2. Providing technical assistance where feasible for public and private sectors on AGOA compliance and trade capacity; and
3. Tracking the impact of AGOA specifically and trade generally on African societies

Objectives of the AGOA Civil Society Network include:

• Increased U.S.-Africa trade,
• Economic development; and
• The establishment of
• Good governance,
• Transparency,
• Sustainable democracy and
• Human rights throughout the countries of Africa