February 09, 2026
Congress on 3-Year AGOA Extension
According to Nation Online, The U.S. Congress approved a three-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), restoring duty-free access to the U.S. market for Malawi and other eligible sub-Saharan African countries after a lapse in late 2025, a move welcomed by government officials and industry stakeholders as it reduces uncertainty for exporters and helps maintain competitiveness amid changed U.S. tariff policies; while the extension offers important reassurance for foreign exchange earnings and jobs tied to exports like tobacco, sugar, macadamia nuts, textiles and apparel, authorities also note the need to pursue broader market diversification through initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area and to craft national strategies to maximize the benefits of AGOA’s renewed access.
U.S. Authorizes Short AGOA Extension
According to MSN, The United States has approved a short-term extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a trade preference program originally enacted in 2000 that allows eligible sub-Saharan African countries to export a broad range of products to the U.S. market duty-free, after it had technically lapsed at the end of 2025; the extension, running through the end of 2026, was signed into law by President Donald Trump and maintained duty-free access for exporters while reflecting ongoing shifts in U.S. trade policy, including efforts to modernize AGOA and align it with broader reciprocal trade goals, even as some countries have expressed concern about diplomatic tensions and the adequacy of the short-term renewal for long-term planning.
South Africa on AGOA’s Expiration
According to Money Web, South Africa faces a potentially imminent vote in the U.S. Senate on renewing the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a trade program that expired on 30 September 2025 and must be re-authorized by Congress to maintain duty-free access for eligible sub-Saharan exports to the U.S.; while government officials have urged continuation and bilateral ties remain significant, commentators and analysts say South Africa’s exclusion from a renewal would likely have a limited economic effect because many of its major exports such as precious metals are already duty-exempt and recent U.S. tariffs far outweigh AGOA’s benefits, and even if extended the pact may still expose qualifying countries to new reciprocal tariffs under U.S. policy changes.
Kenya Applauds U.S. Decision to Extend AGOA
According to MSN, Kenyan officials welcomed the U.S. decision to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) after the House of Representatives passed a bill to prolong duty-free access for eligible exports to the U.S., saying the move preserves employment in key sectors and restores confidence for businesses that depend on the pact; Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui highlighted that firms exporting under AGOA employ roughly 80,000 people directly and about 250,000 indirectly, especially in textiles, apparel, coffee, tea and horticulture, and Kenya is also pursuing wider market access through bilateral talks with the United States to diversify exports beyond current products under the program.
According to Bloomberg, Legislation to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is expected to come up for a vote in the U.S. Senate imminently, but analysts say that even if South Africa is included its economic benefits for the country would be limited because many of its key exports, such as precious metals and some agricultural products, already enter the U.S. duty-free or are covered by other exemptions; exporters may still face new reciprocal tariffs under broader U.S. trade policy, and the duties saved under AGOA have been comparatively modest, meaning the impact on South Africa’s overall economy is seen as “modest” even as the government continues to advocate for continued preferential access amid broader bilateral trade ties.
Solidarity Movement Calls on U.S. to Extend AGOA
According to Politics Web, A South African civic group, the Solidarity Movement, has urged U.S. and South African leaders to ensure South Africa remains eligible for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) as Congress considers the program’s renewal, submitting letters to President Donald Trump, President Cyril Ramaphosa and Senate leadership that stress AGOA’s importance for jobs and industry and argue that diplomatic tensions should not jeopardize participation; the movement says the dispute between the U.S. and South Africa can be resolved through targeted negotiations without excluding the country from the trade preferences that benefit workers and businesses.
EFF Urges South Africa to Reject AGOA Extension, Accusing the U.S. of Geopolitical Self-Interest
According to IOL, The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a South African opposition party, has called on the government to reject the recent extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), arguing that the U.S. program primarily serves American geopolitical and economic interests rather than advancing Africa’s development and industrialization, and has historically tied trade access to alignment with U.S. foreign policy; the EFF contends that AGOA has promoted low-value exports, constrained domestic industrial growth and risks subordinating South Africa’s trade and foreign policy to external objectives, and instead urges a focus on regional integration and economic sovereignty through frameworks like the African Continental Free Trade Area.
South Africa’s Participation in AGOA is in Doubt as U.S. Congress Pushes Extension
According to Maverick News, U.S. legislators have begun moving to revive the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) after it expired at the end of September 2025, with the House Ways and Means Committee approving a draft three year extension that would reinstate duty free access for eligible sub Saharan African exports, but South Africa’s continued participation remains uncertain amid doubts raised by U.S. trade officials and lawmakers about its eligibility given broader diplomatic and trade tensions; while the renewal effort signals strong bipartisan support for the initiative, the draft bill as it stands does not explicitly guarantee South Africa’s inclusion, leaving Pretoria’s future status in the program unresolved as discussions continue in Congress.
The Next Wave for UAE-Africa CEPAs
The United Arab Emirates has been expanding a network of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs) with African countries as part of a strategy to diversify its economy beyond oil and deepen trade, investment, services, and regulatory cooperation, with Ghana and Rwanda emerging as key prospective partners in 2026 due to their strategic regional positions, governance environments, and potential as gateways to larger markets; while these agreements aim to boost market access, attract capital, and enhance services and logistics ties, their ultimate impact in Africa will depend on aligning CEPAs with broader development goals, robust rules of origin, sequenced liberalization, and careful policy design to support value addition and integration with initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area.
According MSN, South Africa has elevated its relationship with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) by becoming a full sovereign (Class A) shareholder, a move that is expected to expand access to competitive trade finance, open up financing for industrial and infrastructure projects, and deepen cooperation across the continent under frameworks like the African Continental Free Trade Area; as part of this upgrade Afreximbank has announced a multi-billion-dollar country program designed to support industrialization, regional integration and export diversification, while the government signals plans to leverage these resources to strengthen local value chains, infrastructure development and trade-related investment.
AfCFTA Shifts from Policy to Action
According to B&FT, Officials say the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is now moving from years of policy design into a decisive implementation phase, with Secretary-General Wamkele Mene outlining strategic priorities over the next three to five years that focus on boosting agriculture, pharmaceuticals, transport and logistics, and automotive manufacturing to drive intra-African commerce and build regional value chains; he emphasized the need for stronger public–private cooperation, improved infrastructure, and greater value addition across sectors to realize the AfCFTA’s potential to transform African economies and fully capitalize on the continent’s integrated market.
Africa’s Trade Gap with China Hits Record $102B even as Beijing Expands Duty-Free Access
According to Ecofin Agency, Africa’s trade deficit with China widened sharply in 2025, reaching a record $102 billion as Chinese exports to the continent grew much faster than African exports to China, underscoring persistent structural imbalances in the bilateral relationship even as total trade hit around $348 billion; Beijing has expanded duty free access on many imports from African countries, including removing tariffs on most products from least developed and other states, to help rebalance trade, but the continent’s exports remain concentrated in raw materials while imports from China are dominated by higher value manufactured goods, and analysts say tariff cuts alone won’t fully address the underlying imbalance.
According to the U.S. House Committee on Ways & Means, U.S. Congress has approved legislation making permanent the Department of Treasury’s access to Social Security data to curb federal payments to deceased people. In its first year alone, this fraud prevention measure saved $108 million. The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) current authority to share its complete death data with the Treasury will expire at the end of this year. The Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act grants the SSA permanent authority to share its data with the Treasury’s Do Not Pay system. The bill will now go to the U.S. President’s desk to become law.
According to Mongabay, Scientists warn that targeted poaching of African lions for their bones, skin, teeth and claws is increasing sharply and could pose an existential threat to Panthera leo, which has already declined to about 25,000 animals and now occupies only a small fraction of its historic range; while long standing pressures such as habitat loss, prey depletion, retaliatory killings and trophy hunting persist, the emerging organized illegal trade, driven by demand in traditional medicine and cultural practices across Africa and Asia, is compounding those threats, prompting calls for stronger enforcement, better protected area funding, disruption of trafficking networks and efforts to reduce consumer demand to safeguard the species’ future.
AfCFTA Pushes EU–Africa Trade Ties as Intra-African Commerce Gains Momentum
According to The High Street Journal, African and European officials are pushing to deepen trade and economic cooperation around the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), emphasising the shift from policy formulation to practical commercial engagement and stronger parliamentary collaboration to broaden market access and regulatory alignment; early indicators show rising intra African trade and the issuing of thousands of certificates of origin under AfCFTA rules, and EU partners are seen as key supporters in areas like digital trade, trade facilitation and capacity building that could help scale up trade flows, integrate value chains and anchor the AfCFTA as a foundation for inclusive growth across the continent.
AfCFTA CEO says Implementation may have Many Setbacks, but Money Isn’t One
According to The High Street Journal, Mavis Owusu Gyamfi, CEO of the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET), argued that the main barrier to implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) isn’t a lack of financial resources but rather weak political will, poor governance and structural inefficiencies that slow national follow through on agreed reforms, including misallocated funds, ineffective tax systems and illicit financial outflows; she said African leaders should prioritise domestic policy action and institutional reforms to drive AfCFTA’s progress, even as intra African trade remains low and the pact faces broader implementation challenges.
GEPA Targets $10bn Exports as Ghana Rallies Africa on Trade Integration
According to The High Street Journal, Ghana’s export promotion agency, GEPA, has set an ambitious goal of increasing the nation’s export revenues from about $4 billion toward $10 billion by 2029, highlighting the importance of deeper intra African trade for job creation, industrial growth and broader development and calling on African partners to strengthen economic integration and collaboration; the push is part of a broader strategy to expand market access, empower micro, small and medium enterprises and transform Ghana’s economy through export led growth.
According to The High Street Journal, Ghana and Nigeria’s deeply intertwined trade relationship is facing rising tensions as an increasing number of Nigerian traders dominate certain retail sectors in Ghana, prompting concerns among local small and medium sized enterprises about competitiveness and market access; while this trend reflects broader ambitions under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to deepen regional commerce, it has also sparked unease over how to balance open markets with protecting indigenous businesses, with some regulatory ambiguities and misperceptions fuelling uncertainty, and analysts argue that prompt, high level dialogue between the two governments is important to clarify policy intentions, manage perceptions, safeguard SMEs, and prevent bilateral friction from undermining both cross border commerce and wider continental trade integration goals.
African Trade has Been Vastly Underestimated
According to The Economist, Conventional statistics significantly understate the volume and vibrancy of African trade, especially intra continental commerce, because much of it is informal and goes unrecorded, with large flows of food and other goods crossing borders in West Africa that rival formal regional markets when properly accounted for; it highlights that traders such as Ghana’s “market queens” operate large scale cross border networks, suggesting African markets are more dynamic than commonly thought, and implies that better data, deeper integration under frameworks like the AfCFTA and fewer protectionist barriers could improve policy making and strengthen food security and economic linkages across the continent.
According to Nairametrics, Nigeria’s non oil export sector is seen as a growing engine for economic diversification and foreign exchange stability, with non oil exports reaching around $6.1 billion in 2025, up from about $4.5 billion in 2024, driven by products such as cocoa, sesame, urea, cashews and manufactured goods and reflecting stronger integration into regional and global value chains; policymakers and exporters argue that boosting non oil exports not only supports FX earnings but also enhances competitiveness, innovation and job creation, and positions the country as a central player in intra African trade under frameworks like the AfCFTA as part of broader structural reforms to reduce reliance on oil.
Driving Intra-Africa Trade by Harnessing GIs Through NIPPS Under AfCFTA IP Protocol
According to Business Day, Geographical Indications (GIs), which link products to specific regions based on quality, reputation or unique characteristics, are being promoted as a tool to boost intra African trade under the AfCFTA Intellectual Property Protocol by protecting origin linked goods and enabling broader market access; Nigeria’s National Intellectual Property Policy & Strategy (NIPPS) and a draft GI Bill aim to create a GI registry and legal framework to transform local products like Ijebu Garri and Ofada Rice into differentiated, exportable value chains, helping producers secure premium prices, support local communities, diversify exports, and enhance cross border recognition and trade related value creation.
DHL Adds Two 737-400Fs to Boost African Trade Capacity
According to AirCargo News, DHL Aviation has added two Boeing 737 400 freighter aircraft to its Sub Saharan African network, unveiling them at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos as part of a broader investment to strengthen air cargo capacity in West Africa; the additional narrow body freighters are expected to shorten transit times, improve delivery reliability and extend connections on key trade routes between Africa, Europe and Asia, meeting rising demand from sectors such as e commerce, perishables, energy and healthcare and supporting businesses as they participate in regional and global value chains amid expanding trade under frameworks like the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Shipping Data Shows Indian Diesel Exports to West Africa at Record High
According to Africa News, Recent shipping data shows Indian diesel exports to West Africa reached record high levels late in 2025 after the European Union implemented a ban on fuel derived from Russian crude, prompting India to halt diesel shipments to the EU and redirect a large volume of exports toward West African markets; the shift reflects how the EU’s new rule, requiring refiners to have avoided processing Russian oil for 60 days to qualify diesel for export, has reshaped global fuel flows, reduced Turkish diesel shipments to Europe, and made West Africa a key outlet for Indian diesel, with estimates indicating Indian exports to the region hit historic daily volumes in December 2025 and remained elevated into January 2026.
Sudan's Vital Gold Industry Hit by Ongoing Conflict, Collapsing Trade Ties
According to Africa News, Sudan’s gold sector, once a key foreign currency earner, has been severely disrupted by nearly three years of civil conflict, with insecurity reducing formal production, damaging infrastructure and pushing substantial volumes of output into smuggling and informal channels that deprive the state of revenue while shrinking the legal export market even as global gold prices rise; declining formal trade ties, exacerbated by diplomatic rifts with major buyers such as the United Arab Emirates, and shortages of processing inputs have narrowed margins for traders and left many businesses struggling, prompting authorities to consider measures like tighter regulation of mining and sales and plans for an international gold exchange to stabilize exports amid ongoing turmoil.
Libya to Hold First Oil Exploration Bidding Round in 17 Years
According to Africa News, Libya’s state owned National Oil Corporation has launched an oil exploration bidding round for the first time in more than 17 years, inviting international companies to compete for rights to explore new onshore and offshore fields as part of efforts to reinvigorate the energy sector that has been hampered by political instability since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi; as Africa’s second largest oil producer and an OPEC member, Libya hopes the renewed bidding will attract foreign investment, increase production capacity and help restore its role in the global oil market after prolonged production disruptions tied to factional disputes.
Events – 2/9/2026
“Africa Business Forum.” UNECA. Economic Commission for Africa United Nations Conference Centre Addis Ababa. 16 and 17 February 2026.
“Industrialisation 2.0: Building Value Chains for Africa’s Manufacturing Future.” Invest Africa. London, England. 25 February 2026.