Ramaphosa accelerates trade diversification after AGOA exclusion
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Sowetan
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announces an acceleration in the diversification of trade markets after his country was excluded from AGOA, the US trade agreement for Africa. He nevertheless hopes to strengthen bilateral trade with Washington, according to South African daily Sowetan.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said his country was accelerating the diversification of its trade relations after being excluded from AGOA, the US trade preference programme for Africa. Several South African companies have already developed trade with other countries, he said after voting in the local elections in Johannesburg, according to Sowetan.
Cyril Ramaphosa described the exclusion as a setback for South Africa, while noting that other African countries had also been excluded from the agreement at different times. He said he favoured negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with Washington, which would set the rules and mechanisms governing trade between the two countries.
The South African president added that domestic industries had benefited from AGOA, but that Pretoria now had to reduce its dependence on this unilateral scheme decided by the United States. His statement comes after South Africa and Rwanda were excluded from AGOA, announced on 3 November, and after Ramaphosa expressed hope of reconnecting with Washington on 4 November.
