Clinton's Africa tour urged to focus on poorest

ActionAid UK

News hook: Hillary Clinton’s visit to Africa

Clinton visit must focus on poorest, says ActionAid

Clinton needs to provide opportunities for some of the poorest people and countries in Africa beyond oil, timber and gas exporting countries, says anti-poverty agency ActionAid.

“For Obama’s Aid for Trade concept to help the poorest people to plug into market opportunities created by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) - the US government must remove the hefty subsidies given to its own non-family farmers as well as tariffs on all products exported from African countries,” said Brian Kagoro, Pan-African policy director.

“The Nairobi AGOA Forum must address the twin challenges of increasing Africa’s competitiveness and relaxing stringent market rules.”

Over 90 per cent of the $56.3 billion worth of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) covered exports to the USA in 2008 were energy related products.

At present AGOA is largely a petroleum importing initiative and it’s projected that non-oil AGOA trade will decline further as a result of the global economic recession. A further contributing factor to the decline of African exports to the US is the high cost of inputs and energy.

Additionally, as AGOA seeks to increase trade and jobs for Africa that increase must correspond to improved conditions for workers by ensuring that labour and human rights especially within the Export Processing Zones..

Many workers lack adequate protection and are poorly remunerated. The US Government as well as African governments must ensure that AGOA provides decent jobs that bring prosperity, dignity and respect for the workers.

Kenya’s sales of textiles and apparel to the US market have been on a steady decline since 2003, marked by a sharp drop of over 20 per cent by the end of 2008. Kenyan manufacturers currently buy cotton from South East Asia. This makes the manufacturers ineligible to export to the United States because they source their materials from outside Africa and the United States.

“Relaxation of the rules of origin under AGOA and increased efforts to revive the textile sector by the Kenyan government will lead to employment and business opportunities for ordinary Kenyans not just precarious jobs with meagre incomes in export processing zones,” added Kagoro.

AGOA provides for over 6000 products that Kenya could potentially export to the USA. But the stringent export clearance for fresh produce by the US department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection services means that Kenya will not-in the foreseeable future- be able to fully exploit this opportunity.

While Kenya is looking to expand its agricultural exports to the US market, the country needs to balance the tension between exports and production for the home market in the wake of increasing food shortages and high prices.

“The vast majority of people employed in the agricultural and textile sectors are women and their real benefit from AGOA remains insiginificant,” said Njeri Kinyoho, Africa Policy Coordinator.

“Their labour, health and environmental rights continueto be violated with very little remedy.The Nairobi AGOA Forum must,therefore, critically address questions of labour and environmental rights in the participating countries.”

ActionAid is an international anti-poverty agency working in over 40 countries, taking sides with poor people to end poverty and injustice together.

www.actionaid.org