AGOA – Adomonline.com

Trade Ministry claims diplomatic victory as U.S. extends AGOA for Ghana

Gertrude Okyere — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 10:20:58 +0000

The Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry says Ghana has secured a major reprieve in its trade relationship with the United States after Washington extended the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for one year.

In a statement, the sector Minister, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, welcomed the decision, describing it as a timely intervention that will protect jobs and stabilise confidence in Ghana’s export sector amid heightened tariff pressures.

According to the Minister, the extension—signed by the Donald Trump administration on Tuesday, February 3, 2026—will “safeguard thousands of Ghanaian jobs,” particularly in garments, agro-processing, cocoa derivatives and light manufacturing, while strengthening Ghana’s standing as “a reliable trading partner in the U.S market.”

The Ministry’s statement frames the extension as the outcome of sustained engagement between the Mahama administration and U.S. authorities, following a wave of tariff measures that threatened to disrupt trade flows and weaken investment certainty.

“It would be recalled that since the imposition of the 10% universal tariff, the Government of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama… through the Minister… engaged the US counterparts through both diplomatic and direct engagement to mitigate the impact on Ghanaian businesses,” the statement said.

The Trade Ministry also said the Minister held “a series of meetings including stakeholder engagements” to assure exporters of the government’s determination to prevent trade disruptions and protect investment decisions.

The U.S. tariff measures referenced in the statement date back to April 2025, when the United States announced the imposition of a “10% universal tariff,” effective April 5, 2025, covering imports from all countries, including Ghana.

The pressure intensified months later. The Ministry said that on August 7, 2025, the U.S. imposed a new “15% tariff on Ghanaian exports,” as part of a wider trade policy aimed at addressing trade deficits and promoting reciprocal trade practices.

The Trade Ministry’s press release suggests that the one-year AGOA extension provides Ghana with breathing room, especially for exporters whose products rely heavily on preferential access to the U.S. market.

AGOA, enacted in 2000, has long served as a central framework for U.S.-Africa trade. The Ministry described it as “a cornerstone of US-Africa trade,” offering duty-free access to the American market for 32 eligible African countries as of the end of 2024.

For Ghana, the agreement remains a key channel for exporting value-added products. The Ministry said “most of the Ghanaian exports to the US market enjoy the duty-free quota-free market access through the AGOA,” describing it as “a non-reciprocal preferential trade agreement between the USA and eligible African countries, including Ghana.”

Beyond the economic impact, the Trade Ministry also presented the extension as a product of regional and multilateral coordination.

The Minister commended the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and other West African countries for what she described as “their collective effort and unwavering support to attain this feat.”

The Minister also acknowledged exporters’ role, praised their resilience during a difficult period, and urged them to seize the opportunity created by the extension.

She “further appreciates the exporters for their resilience over the period and encourages them to leverage the Accelerated Export Development Programme to boost Ghana’s exports to the US market.”

The Ministry’s message to exporters is clear: the extension may be temporary, but it offers a strategic window for Ghana to consolidate its market position, expand export volumes, and strengthen value chains in sectors that remain heavily dependent on AGOA’s duty-free access.

For the government, the statement signals an effort to reassure businesses that diplomatic engagement can still deliver tangible economic results, even amid a tightening global trade environment.

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AGOA Extended: Ghana–US Trade ties Get fresh boost as exports, jobs Set to rise

AGOA renewal unlikely after U.S. imposes tariffs on Ghanaian exports – Mahama

AGOA renewal unlikely after U.S. imposes tariffs on Ghanaian exports – Mahama

Faridatu Seidu — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 08:26:01 +0000

President John Dramani Mahama has expressed doubt over the future of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), warning that the trade programme is “technically dead” following the imposition of new U.S. tariffs on African countries, including Ghana.

He revealed that Ghana, which previously enjoyed duty-free access to the U.S. market under AGOA, now faces a 15% tariff on its exports.

Speaking during his first presidential media encounter of his second term, President Mahama explained that AGOA was due for renegotiation in September, but the U.S. administration under Donald Trump disrupted the trade framework with protectionist policies.

“Countries like Ghana enjoyed zero tariffs in the U.S. because we were considered developing. It was a concession that the U.S. gave. Then came President Trump with a transactional mindset, arguing that the U.S. had been taken for granted for too long. So even for Africa, including Ghana, he slapped a 15% tariff on us from zero,” Mahama said.

“AGOA is technically dead. It was due for renegotiation in September, but with this 15% tariff, there is no way it will be renewed. We are watching carefully. The power to impose tariffs lies with Congress, but in this case, the U.S. president is pushing the limit,” he added.

Since its enactment in 2000, AGOA has been central to U.S.–Africa trade relations, granting eligible sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to over 1,800 products, in addition to 5,000 items under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).

Congress modernized and extended AGOA in 2015 to run until 2025; however, the Trump administration’s protectionist shift has cast serious doubt on the programme’s continuation beyond its expiration date.

Source: AdomOnline

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“Ghana to increase export volumes under AGOA to $500m 2020” – Akufo-Addo

Adwoa Agyeman — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 18:11:10 +0000

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says his government is in the process of finalising Ghana’s new Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) export strategy and action plan, to boost the volumes of exports to the United States to $500 million by 2020.
With Ghana unable to sufficiently exploit the AGOA opportunity, and, thereby, not realising any significant gains, having only exported items worth only $29 million to the United States in 2016, President Akufo-Addo noted that his government is working to put in place measures to ensure that the country takes full advantage of the U.S. market through the AGOA initiative.
“We aim at increasing our export volumes under AGOA to $500 million in 2020, which will create in its wake hundreds of thousands of jobs. The target is ambitious, but certainly achievable,” he said.
The President made this known on Monday, August 14, 2017, when he launched the expansion project of Dignity-Do-The-Right-Thing Apparel, at the Adjabeng Free Zone enclave, in Accra.
Dignity DTRT is a Ghanaian-American joint venture initiative, which is currently employing some 1,600 people, and is set to export $30 million worth of clothing to the United States of America by 2018, under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
Dignity DTRT, President Akufo-Addo noted, is a key part of the projection for increasing Ghana’s export volumes under AGOA to $500 million by 2020, with the company expected to contribute some $82 million out of this amount.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the “U.S. clothing market is worth $100 billion dollars a year. The countries of Eastern and Southern Africa are currently exporting to this market several billion dollars’ worth of clothing every year. We, in Ghana and West Africa, must match them. The opportunity is considerable, and we need to grab hold of it.”
He, thus, pledged the support of his government for textile and garment businesses and enterprises across Ghana, to create jobs that provide security for individuals, families and communities, explaining that it “falls squarely within our overall vision of making the development of the textile and garment industry a strategic anchor industry for Ghanaian industrialization.”
Describing the Dignity-DTRT project as being consistent with his government’s vision to make Ghana an industrial hub in West Africa, and, thus, drive the socio-economic development of our country, President Akufo-Addo noted, however, that Ghana’s industry has not done well in recent years.
“From a growth rate of 15.1% in 2008, the last year of the government of the outstanding Ghanaian statesman, His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, former President of the Republic, growth in industry slumped to 0.8% in 2014, -0.3% in 2015, and further down to -1.4% in 2016,” he said.
The President continued, “However, as a result of the relative normalisation of the power situation in the country, and the implementation of our business-friendly policies, industry, for the first quarter of 2017, recorded the impressive growth rate of 11.5 percent, the highest sectoral growth in the economy”.
He, thus, applauded the success of a Ghanaian-American company, Dignity-Do-The-Right-Thing Apparel (DTRT), which has majority Ghanaian ownership.
“It has built, within a short space of 3 years, a thriving, commercial-scale manufacturing operation that is achieving world-class levels of production efficiency. This has led it to become the largest clothing manufacturer in West Africa,” he added.
To spur on the creation of jobs in the country, President Akufo-Addo noted that his government has set out to build the most business friendly economy in Africa, and is moving quickly to create an environment that will unleash the innovative and entrepreneurial instincts of the Ghanaian people to drive rapid growth and job creation.
The President reiterated that the goal of his government is to “to unlock the full potential of the private sector and the Ghanaian sense of enterprise to create jobs and prosperity for all Ghanaians, and to position Ghana as a preferred investment destination.”