23 Oct BLSA calls for business to capitalise on South Africa’s hosting of Agoa Forum
It is notable that South Africa will still host the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) Private Sector Forum next month, given that several US lawmakers have called for it to be moved elsewhere, and have questioned the country’s preferential trade terms with the US under AGOA as such preferential access to the US markets is open only to African countries that do not threaten American security interests.
This is according to business organisation Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso, who writes in her weekly newsletter that the forum provides an opportunity for South African businesses to show how important the business relationships between the two countries are.
“The forum will draw together 450 representatives from Agoa-eligible countries across the continent, but the fact that it is being hosted here gives South Africa a particular opportunity to advance our relationship with the US.
“We should demonstrate how Agoa benefits the US economy, providing inputs to US supply chains and high-quality goods, from vehicles to wines, for US consumers,” Mavuso asserts.
“Understandably, the Americans have watched with alarm as we’ve conducted joint naval exercises with the Russian and Chinese militaries, allowed a sanctioned Russian ship to land at Simon’s Town and then a sanctioned aircraft to land at Waterkloof.
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