(MENAFN)
In April, U.S. President Donald Trump introduced sweeping tariffs of up to 50% on imports from African nations, effectively dismantling the preferential trade benefits offered by the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). AGOA had previously allowed over 7,000 products from sub-Saharan Africa to enter the U.S. duty-free.

According to the U.S. Trade Representative, imports under AGOA reached $9.7 billion in 2023. South Africa led with $14 billion in exports to the U.S., followed by Nigeria, Ghana, Angola, and Côte d'Ivoire. However, the new blanket 10% tariff across all African nations is widely seen as signaling the end of AGOA.

Dr. Francis Owusu, a trade economist at the University of Ghana, argues that Trump’s new policy has rendered AGOA ineffective. “It’s no longer viable,” he said. “Trump’s tariffs have made AGOA irrelevant.”

Yet Dr. Owusu sees opportunity amid the disruption. He believes Trump’s move could push African countries to fully embrace the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) – a regional trade pact with a market of 1.4 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion. He emphasized that African leaders should now focus on strengthening internal trade networks and building resilience through AfCFTA.

“Trump may have unintentionally done Africa a favor,” Owusu said, suggesting that the continent should pivot from dependency on external trade preferences to building self-reliant economic structures.

Despite being launched in 2021, AfCFTA's potential remains largely untapped. Intra-African trade made up just 18% of total trade as of April 2025. According to Afreximbank, intra-African trade rose to $192.2 billion in 2023 – a 3.2% increase – while formal trade between African nations climbed from 13.6% to 14.9%. The UN projects that full implementation of the AfCFTA could increase intra-African trade to 35% by 2045.

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