Kenya will know the fate of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) by the end of the year, it has been revealed.
United States Senior Advisor to Africa Massad Boulos disclosed that the U.S. Congress had been given till the end of the year to decide on whether to extend AGOA or not.
Speaking to Bloomberg, he expressed optimism at the extension of the pact, which expired on September 30.
AGOA has been key to boosting trade relations between Africa and the U.S. since its inception in 2000. It granted tariff-free access to more than 1,800 products from 32 countries and can only be renewed by an act of Congress, which last happened in 2015.
“We understand that it (possibility of AGOA extension) is moving positively in the right direction,” Boulos noted.
Kenya has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of AGOA, with its textile, tea, and coffee sectors exempt from tariffs and earning billions in revenue in the process.
In 2024, for example, Kenya led Africa in apparel exports to the United States, earning $600 million (Ksh77.5 billion) and creating 70,000 direct jobs for Kenyans.
The latest information by Boulos comes amid uncertainty in certain circles over the possibility of an extension of AGOA, as Kenyan manufacturers and exporters stare at potential losses over the lack of the crucial deal.
Despite President William Ruto announcing back in October that the pact had been extended by a year, the U.S. government has yet to issue any statement confirming this formally.
In addition, Ruto had expressed Kenya’s wish for a five-year extension to the duty-free agreement between the U.S. and Africa.
Even so, all reports coming out from the U.S. point towards an extension of the pact, with senior White House officials indicating that President Donald Trump favoured an extension.
Extensive negotiations between the Kenyan and U.S. governments have taken place, before and after AGOA’s expiry, with Kenya sending a team of trade and investment experts to Washington back in August to hold talks.
Figures from the United States Trade Representative Office revealed that in 2024, the total U.S.–Kenya goods trade, including exports and imports, was estimated at $1.5 billion (Ksh193.8 billion).
