Contributions of African Growth and Opportunity Act to International Trade of Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The relative failure of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries to access the benefits of global trade despite several attempts at a variety of international economic models is common knowledge. This paper subjects the trade relations between the United States and SSA within the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to a historical, interpretive, and analytical examination to ascertain the contributions of the preferential trade agreement to international trade of Sub-Saharan African countries. Paper finds that the two-way increases in the trade of the U.S. and SSA under AGOA safeguard the continuous access of the U.S. to cheap produce of African countries. The paper concludes that SSA countries would continue to depend on preferential trade agreements for their international trade.