Obama reinstates Mauritania in the African Growth and Opportunity Act

10 January 2010 [MediaGlobal]: President Obama announced 23 December 2009 that Mauritania has been reinstated to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a US Congressional act created under President Bush in 2000 and slated to run through 2015. AGOA allows participating African countries easier access to American markets by allowing tariff-free importation of certain goods to the United States. The program aims to encourage economic development by expanding market access for Lesser-Developed Countries. The program also aims to promote social and political development, requiring participating countries to meet certain guidelines pertaining to governance, transparency, corruption management, and accessibility of social services. Currently, 37 African countries are included in the program, but each year countries are instated or removed depending on the continuing evolution of political stability. Mauritania has been suspended and reinstated twice since 2006. Mauritania was reinstated this year in recognition of democratic elections that allowed for the legal validation of General Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz as president after he came to power through a coup d’etat in 2008. Mauritania has suffered from its fluctuations in participation in AGOA. It has been difficult for Mauritanian businesses to participate in the US market, even during periods of trade liberalization, because they often lack expertise in marketing to American consumers. LO Amadou Abdoul, Director of the Mauritanian Information Center for Economic and Technical Development (CIMDET) and the Mauritanian Chamber of Commerce spoke to MediaGlobal about the challenges Mauritania entrepreneurs face in taking advantage of AGOA: “The difficulty for Mauritanian businesses is to understand American norms, [which would allow them] to participate in trade fairs in the US to promote their products and to find American partners.” Yet Abdoul sees potential for improvement of trade relationships. “For several years business has been slow between Mauritania and the US,” he said, “but there is enormous business potential for Mauritanian artisan products and fish sold in the US.” Mauritania’s inclusion in AGOA was accompanied by the suspension of Madagascar, Guinea and Niger, demonstrating the continuing fluctuations of political stability and opportunities for economic development across the continent. Allyn Gaestel