As uncertainty looms over the future of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), Ghana stands at a crucial crossroads.
With the agreement set to expire in September, the outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer, has called on Ghana to take a lead role in advocating for its renewal.
However, her appeal also coincides with a louder call from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat, urging African nations to turn inward and strengthen trade among themselves rather than depending heavily on external markets.
Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Mr Wamkele Mene stated profoundly in a recent forum, “we will pursue what is in Africa’s best interests, not last interests, but best interests as we seek a path forward in respect of AGOA. Combined with some of the trade instruments that we have introduced, as well as the overall liberalisation objective of the AFCFTA, I believe that we are well positioned as a continent to turn this crisis into an opportunity.”
Mr Mene argued that “there is absolutely no reason why we should be crying about a 10% tariff on all of us, when our export profile under AGOA to the United States is mainly limited to minerals, petroleum, vehicles, and cashew nuts.”
AGOA has been a lifeline for several Ghanaian industries, offering duty-free access to the U.S. market for thousands of products. From textiles to agriculture, Ghanaian businesses particularly those led by women and youth have benefited tremendously. Companies like DTRT Apparel Group have employed hundreds of workers, especially women from Ghana’s northern regions, and leveraged AGOA to scale exports and build international reputations.
But the promise of AGOA has also come with challenges. Exporters often grapple with stringent compliance standards, limited capacity to meet large orders, and high logistics costs. While AGOA opened doors, it did not always provide the tools to walk through them. Furthermore, Ghana’s reliance on one major trade partner leaves its export economy vulnerable to policy changes in Washington.
With AfCFTA now operational, there is growing momentum for African nations to strengthen intra-African trade, which currently accounts for less than 20% of total continental trade. The recent imposition of tariffs by the U.S. administration on several foreign goods only reinforces the need for Ghana and its neighbors to diversify markets and reduce dependency on external trade preferences.
If AGOA is renewed, Ghana should certainly continue to leverage it but with a dual strategy: use the U.S. market as a platform for growth while actively expanding its trade footprint across Africa. Ghana can turn AGOA-trained enterprises into competitive regional exporters under AfCFTA, transforming short-term advantages into long-term resilience.
Moreover, renewed AGOA access would buy time for Ghana to ramp up its industrial capacity, improve standards compliance, and enhance logistics infrastructure preparing the country not just for U.S. markets, but for thriving in a self-sustaining African trade ecosystem.
In the lead-up to the AGOA expiration, Ghana’s response must be two-fold: continue advocacy in Washington, yes but more importantly, use this moment to lead in building a stronger, more integrated African trade system where AGOA-type benefits can be homegrown, not borrowed.
