David Ofosu-Dorte, Senior Partner at AB & David Africa, has questioned the overall impact of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) on Africa’s economic transformation, despite the recent approval of its extension by the United States House of Representatives.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday, January 15, 2026, Mr Ofosu-Dorte said data over the past 25 years showed that Africa had not benefited from AGOA to the extent initially anticipated.
His comments follow the decision by the US House of Representatives to extend AGOA, a move that preserves duty-free access for eligible Ghanaian exports and is expected to support local garment manufacturing, agro-processing, and job creation, pending final endorsement by the US Senate.
Mr Ofosu-Dorte noted that overall imports from Africa into the United States had declined significantly over the years.
“The total import to the US from Africa has dropped. It went up to about $24 billion. My last data was about $12 billion. With only AGOA-related imports in 2024 dropping to $8.8 billion from $9.3 billion the previous year,” he said.
He explained that although the agricultural and apparel sectors remained the biggest beneficiaries under AGOA, even those sectors had experienced declines in recent years.
“The biggest beneficiary was the agricultural sector and the apparel sector. Even for that, there has been some drop,” he said.
Mr Ofosu-Dorte further observed that Africa’s share of US imports remained marginal, arguing that the trade arrangement had fallen short of its transformative ambitions.
“Now the overall import to Africa from the US dropped from 1.2 per cent to 1.4 per cent. So, if I look at AGOA over these 25 years, it seems Africa hasn’t benefited the way it expected, and it has also not transformed Africa as it was,” he said.
AGOA, enacted in 2000, was designed to promote economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa through preferential access to the US market. While the extension has been welcomed by policymakers and exporters in Ghana, analysts say its long-term success will depend on stronger industrial capacity, value addition, and export diversification across the continent.
US extends AGOA for three years, strengthening Ghana trade ties
