With Barack Obama’s recent visit to Africa the focus of the world’s media was on the President’s initiatives to encourage the economic growth of the region. The visit was largely in support of the ongoing programs of support for many African countries initiated by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). This legislation, passed in 2000, is designed to assist the economies of Sub-Saharan African nations and to improve US foreign relations in the region. The AGOA bill also apportions responsibility for deciding on eligibility every year to the President.

In simple terms, AGOA provides trade preferences for quota and duty-free entry of some goods into the US, mostly textiles and apparel. Changes in local political climates have seen eligibility fluctuate for several countries with both Guinea and Niger being removed from the list in 2009 only to be reinstated again in 2011. These simple initiatives have proven to be remarkably successful and have stimulated the growth of the textile industry in Southern Africa. This has brought them into direct competition with China, which has since become the largest investor in Africa (the US is currently the second largest).

For clothing importers this presents an opportunity to take advantage of already low-cost products that don’t attract any extra duties or charges. In order to qualify for this status the goods have to come from the list of AGOA approved countries and fall into one of the duty exempt categories. These are focused on the nature of the textiles that are used and, more significantly, on the cultural significance of the method of manufacture and designs that have been employed. This has assigned the status of “folklore article” or “ethnic printed fabric” to many items of apparel that are made in cottage industrial settings in the region. The most recent round of such classifications has been on the varieties of hand loomed and handmade articles that are made by traditional methods across Sub-Saharan Africa.

For clothing importers these garments have broad appeal. They are generally inexpensive and, without duties they are cheap to import. They also have a good eco image because they are encouraging cottage industry in underdeveloped countries which gives them a definite contemporary social kudos. Their supply is also limited, both by the manufacturing methods and by legislation which restricts the AGOA status to just over 6% of the total apparel imports into the US. For those importers that get in early this could prove to be a lucrative opportunity that also helps some of the world’s poorest people to become independent.