Johannesburg/Nairobi Thomson Reuters Foundation —
A cloud of uncertainty hangs over an Africa-US trade deal set to expire by the end of September, with African unions warning that more than a million indirect jobs could be on the line if it is not renewed.
But some trade experts and economists say the possible end of the 25-year-old African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) could allow African countries to seek potentially beneficial deals with other partners, or boost trade with each other.
“AGOA is the breadbasket of many people in very critical sectors,” said Hod Anyigba, chief economist at the International Trade Union Confederation Africa (ITUC-Africa), which has 17 million members.
“(But it) is not the only way to prosperity. It was one of the ways… but there could be other, better ways of trading,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Last-ditch talks on the future of AGOA have been taki
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