US urges African entreprenuers to maximise AGOA opportunities

Ms Florizelle Liser, United States Assistant Trade Representative for Africa, on Tuesday, urged African entrepreneurs to maximise investment opportunities offered by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Liser made the call in a tele-conference with journalists across Africa, ahead of the AGOA forum scheduled to hold in Libreville, Gabon, from Aug. 24 to Aug. 27, 2015.
She reiterated the US government’s commitment toward making AGOA more viable in the next decade.“There is a very strong commitment from US government and its African partners to further promote AGOA in the next ten years. We want African entrepreneurs to take the right advantage of AGOA as we are seriously looking forward to work with them. We expect that in the next ten years Africans would be able to increase their input in the US market,’’ she said.
Liser said that the Act had in the last 15 years opened business and investment development between the US and its partners. According to her, African countries, in the period under review, had tripled export of their non-oil products into the US.
She said that AGOA had in the last years created employment opportunities for young Africans and their American counterparts. The US official expressed optimism that the forthcoming AGOA forum in Gabon would reposition the Act and deepen US economic relations with Africans in future. She also urged African entrepreneurs to use their experience and opportunity garnered from AGOA to extend their business and investment partnerships to other countries.