( 4 minutes read)
· The US embassy in Zambia has said that most Zambian entrepreneurs have failed to penetrate the United States (US) market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) due to failure to meet the requirements
· According to the US embassy officials, only a few companies are exporting handful of products to the US
· This was due to failure to meet all the stipulated sanitary and phytosanitary stipulations needed to access the US market. Under the AGOA
The US embassy in Zambia has said that most Zambian entrepreneurs have failed to penetrate the United States (US) market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) due to failure to meet the requirements.
According to the US embassy officials, only a few companies are exporting a handful of products to the US. This was due to failure to meet all the stipulated sanitary and phytosanitary stipulations needed to access the US market. Under the AGOA agreement, the US gives opportunities to African countries, including Zambia to export over 7,000 products eligible under the initiative. These products include handcrafts, leather goods, accessories, gems, jewellery, textiles and agro-processed products, honey, among others.
The embassy officials maintained that only a few companies have successfully exported products into the US market. The opportunity for Zambian firms to export into the vast USA market remains promising as the AGOA initiative extends quota and duty free market access entry.
Close to 260 brands in Zambia are availing AGOA facilities, which include , Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO), Forest Fruits Limited, and Jewels of Africa. To ensure more local businesses participate in the export market, the Zambian Government, with support from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) TradeHub, developed a number of sensitization projects to make the industry aware of the exacting standards for penetrating into the US market.
