Textiles anchors 53% jump in AGOA exports

Textiles contributed 87 percent of AGOA exports last year
Textiles contributed 87 percent of AGOA exports last year

Botswana exports to the United States under the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) increased by over 50 percent between January and November 2014.

According to the statistics from US Department of Commerce, exports to US under AGOA increased 53 percent from $5.5 million (P52 million) to $8.5 million (P80 million) in the first 11 months of the year, mainly on the back of increase in textile and apparel.

In the period, total exports to the US, which were dominated by mostly diamonds, increased 16 percent from $246.3 million to $286.4 million. While Botswana is empowered to export 6,500 products under AGOA, textiles have benefited the most, being easy to establish with a relatively low cost of labour.

Editor's Comment
Ruling party should tread carefully on cadre deployment

But on the particularly sensitive question of cadre deployment, the BNF must tread very carefully.The issue deserves robust debate, not ideological enthusiasm. Recent public comments from the BNF leadership are reassuring: the party has said that government positions should be based on merit and competence rather than party membership, and that it does not have a specific cadre-deployment policy.That principle should remain firmly at the centre...

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