Opportunities lost as Botswana misses AGOA train
Friday, April 22, 2016
From over 6,000 eligible products Botswana only exports textiles under AGOA
AGOA is a unilateral trade arrangement by the U.S for African countries. The benefits provided by the scheme have allowed for an average of around 70 percent of all imports from sub-Saharan Africa to enter the U.S duty-free.
Although Botswana has most of the factors that are required to be eligible for AGOA, local businesses are still lagging behind when it comes to international trade, particularly in exporting to the United States of America.
It highlights the need to protect rights such as access to clean water, education, healthcare and freedom of expression.President Duma Boko, rightly honours past interventions from securing a dignified burial for Gaoberekwe Pitseng in the CKGR to promoting linguistic inclusion. Yet, they also expose a critical truth, that a nation cannot sustainably protect its people through ad hoc acts of compassion alone.It is time for both government and the...