The expiry of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) on September 30, 2025, closed a chapter in US–Africa trade relations that began in 2000. For 25 years, Agoa functioned as a preferential market access gateway to the US for qualifying sub-Saharan African countries.
Its termination, abrupt in its immediate effects and uncertain in its future trajectory, has triggered alarm across governments, exporters and workers whose businesses were built around duty-free access to the vast US market.
