EDITORIAL: SA is its own enemy
The government has not helped its Agoa trade pact cause with its stance on Russia’s war on Ukraine
Government documents on the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) suggest our political leaders are turning the issue into a full-on rant about Western hostility to SA. Agoa expires next year, unless the US Congress chooses to extend it. It is essentially a form of development aid that gives preferential access to the US market to more than 30 African countries including SA., which was always an outlier because it is a middle-income country not a poor one.
The US was persuaded to include us; our automotive, fruit and chemicals exports have been big beneficiaries. But SA and its supporters in Congress had to fight hard to be included when the legislation was extended in 2015. The fight will clearly be harder this time — and SA has not helped its cause with its stance on Russia’s war on Ukraine. SA’s claims of nonalignment have not been matched by its deeds and its perceived cosiness with Russia alienated even those in the US Congress who support its cause...
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