By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa is continuing to advocate for the renewal of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), which expired on 30th September 2025.
The announcement surfaced during a briefing to parliamentary portfolio committee by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition.
The deputy director-general for trade Ambassador Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter has indicated that a rollover had bipartisan support in Congress, while the White House had expressed its support for a one-year renewal.
“What is expected is a straight rollover of the current benefits to the existing members, which will mean that South Africa … will continue to benefit under the programme,” she said, indicating that Senator John Kennedy, of Louisiana, had introduced a Bill to renew Agoa for two years.
But she did not mention Kennedy’s version specifically excluding South Africa.
The senator argued that AGOA should only be extended to African nations that “support US interests”, insisting that South Africa’s geopolitical position requires reevaluation.
Asked whether Agoa could coexist with reciprocal tariffs, she said because the reciprocal tariffs were additional to the most favoured nation tariffs, the duty- and quota-free access provided under Agoa would offer a “margin of preference” to beneficiaries.
If enacted, AGOA 2.0 would revive the trade programme for two years and require Washington to pursue bilateral agreements with selected African partners. It emphasises conditions such as democratic governance, human rights protections, and anticorruption measures.
Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau stressed, however, that South Africa was accelerating it strategy to diversify exports not only because of US developments, but rising protectionism and uncertainty in other markets.
Implementation was being pursued under the so-called “butterfly strategy”, where Africa represented the body and the ‘wings’ represented the rest of the world, including 27 new and emerging markets earmarked as priority markets
The strategy is anchored by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), under which 24 countries were currently trading. In 2024, R485-billion of South Africa’s R571-billion in exports to the rest of Africa took place under the terms of AfCFTA.
The strategy aims to diversify exports both geographically and by product category, with a particular focus on increasing value-added exports and leveraging trade agreements and diplomatic efforts to enhance market access.
The dtic has set a strategic target of growing the value of South African exports from about R2-trillion to R3-trillion by 2030.
In 2024, South Africa’s exports stood at R2.04-trillion, while imports were R1.7-trillion, resulting in a surplus of over R340-billion.
Tensions between the two countries have been running hot ever since the Trump Administration took office in February, hitting a fresh crescendo at the weekend’s G20 Leaders’ Summit.
The US boycotted the summit and attempted to apply pressure on South Africa not to issue a leaders’ declaration from the meeting.
South Africa and other attending G20 leaders adopted a leaders’ declaration on the first day of the summit, delivering an embarrassing blow to the world’s largest economy and the Trump presidency.
In a further embarrassment to the US, South Africa rejected the request for President Cyril Ramaphosa to hand over the G20 gavel to the US charge d’affaires. The gavel was handed over to the US in a low-level diplomatic affair on Tuesday (25 November).