The United States has approved a three-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a move set to strengthen trade ties between the U.S. and African nations.
Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui described the extension as a major opportunity to expand national trade, enhance exports, and create employment.
“We aim to grow exports of additional products under the AGOA framework beyond textiles, ensuring that Kenya fully leverages this opportunity to create jobs and generate wealth,” CS Kinyanjui said.
He highlighted Kenya’s textile and apparel industries within the Export Processing Zones (EPZs), which employ over 80,000 people directly and an additional 250,000 indirectly.
CS Kinyanjui further noted that Kenya is engaging in discussions for a bilateral trade agreement with the U.S., covering key sectors and reinforcing the two countries’ long-standing partnership.
Kenya’s primary exports to the U.S. include textiles, apparel, coffee, tea, horticultural products, and tourism services. Expanding this export basket remains a strategic priority aligned with the nation’s broader economic agenda.
AGOA, signed into law in 2000 by U.S. President Bill Clinton, provides eligible Sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the U.S. market across more than 6,000 product lines. Kenya has been a leading beneficiary, particularly in apparel and textiles, which have generated billions in export revenue and created thousands of jobs in EPZs.
The extension is expected to bring renewed confidence to investors, stimulate industrial growth, and deepen economic cooperation between Kenya and the United States.
