African civil society organizations for greater US-Africa trade relations voice

Civil society organizations in Africa that they want to have a greater trade between the United States and any discussion of China-Africa relations, said, because they represent the "silent" sound.

The organization believes that the intention of any trade concessions to benefit the local residents, but that the agreement of the African leaders, such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) signed a one-sided because they do not the voices from the grassroots.

"AGOA is the top-down. It is a given process, it is by our Government has not been negotiated, which is why the civil society organizations said that they need in the future related to the process, the" savior Mwamba , Executive Director of the Centre with the trade and development policies in Zambia said.

The ongoing civil society organizations in the United States and sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum in Lusaka, Zambia will be the first, Mwambwa said Africa did not benefit from the AGOA initiative, because no such person should be marginalization of small farmers to benefit from the outset, can not penetrate because of supply restrictions and other measures, the implementation of stringent U.S. market.

"Marginalized people have no say, which is why civil society organizations, we need to talk to them. We need to rediscover the gap between policy-makers to be marginalized," he added.
Percy Makombe, for the economic justice program manager in South Africa, said the network involved in trade agreements between civil society organizations in Africa and Western governments, because they marginalization of major representative.

He said that Africa did not benefit from the AGOA initiative and other international agreements of all stakeholders and more, because there is no work in the development of these agreements.

"Although the national (production), such as Nigeria and Angola's oil in the top five beneficiaries of AGOA, the country's poverty levels remain high. We need to be examined under the conditions of the implementation of AGOA," he said.

He further said that trade protectionism and subsidies to the international market level is still high, and added that Africa will continue to suffer as trade-related infrastructure such as roads does not solve the long-term global trade.

Jane Matunga, Southern and Eastern African Trade Information Officer and negotiations Institute said, AGOA is the United States can be a gift to Africa, African governments do not properly understand.

"AGOA is a gift, in Africa, you do not say, even if you do not know the present," she said.

AGOA initiative into effect in 2000, and duty-free entry of 37 countries in sub-Saharan African products to enter the U.S. market. Eligible countries to qualify for the export of about 6,000 products on the U.S. market duty-free.

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