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Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said that the United States was overestimating the importance of AGOA, which provides duty-free access to select sub-Saharan African countries to the US market
Uganda seems to have mellowed down its reaction to the denial of AGOA benefits by the US, citing human rights violations stemming from its extreme stand against the LGBT community. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said that the United States was overestimating the importance of AGOA, which provides duty-free access to select sub-Saharan African countries to the US market. Washington announced that it was withdrawing Uganda, along with other countries, from a major trade agreement because of human rights violations.
Last week, Washington announced that Uganda, along with the Central African Republic, Gabon and Niger, would be excluded from the list of sub-Saharan African countries benefiting from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) from January 2024.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act, which dates back to 2000, allows African countries to export a wide range of products to the United States duty-free. This preferential trade treatment is, however, subject to a series of conditions in terms of political pluralism, respect for human rights and the rule of law, and the fight against corruption.
In a letter to Congress, US President Joe Biden accused the Ugandan government of human rights violations, which has been the focus of fierce criticism from human rights groups, the UN, and Western countries since the adoption in May of a law dubbed the “Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023”.
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But Yoweri Museveni told Ugandans not to be too worried about the recent actions of the US government to discourage their companies from investing in Uganda and the removal of Uganda from the AGOA list. He added that some of these actors in the Western world overestimate themselves and underestimate the freedom fighters in Africa. Exuding optimism among the citizenry, he said that Uganda can succeed in its growth and transformation objectives, even if some players do not support it.
The Ugandan government, at the same time, is open to discussions with Washington. As soon as the anti-homosexuality law was passed, Joe Biden called for its immediate repeal and threatened to reduce US aid and investment in Uganda. The law provides for heavy penalties for people who have homosexual relations or promote homosexuality. In August, the World Bank announced the suspension of new loans to Uganda.
