General Country Eligibility Provisions

It is the U.S. Government’s intention that the largest possible number of Sub-Saharan African countries are able to take advantage of AGOA. President Clinton issued a proclamation on October 2, 2000 designating 34 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa as eligible for the trade benefits of AGOA. The proclamation was the result of a public comment period and extensive interagency deliberations of each country’s performance against the eligibility criteria established in the Act. On January 18, 2001, Swaziland was designated as the 35th AGOA eligible country and on May 16, 2002 Côte d'Ivoire was designated as the 36th AGOA eligible country. On January 1, 2003 The Gambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo were designated as the 37th and 38th AGOA eligible countries. The DRC, however lost their eligibility on January 1, 2011. On January 1, 2004, Angola was designated as AGOA eligibile. Effective January 1, 2004, however, the President removed the Central African Republic and Eritrea from the list of eligible countries. On December 10, 2004, the President designated Burkina Faso as AGOA eligible. Effective January 1, 2005, the President removed Côte d'Ivoire from the list of eligible countries. Effective January 1, 2006, the President designated Burundi as AGOA eligible and removed Mauritania from the list of eligible countries. Effective December 29, 2006, the President designated Liberia as AGOA eligible. Effective December 23, 2009, the President again designated Mauritania as AGOA eligible. Effective April 17, 2008, the President designated Togo as AGOA eligible. Effective June 30, 2008, the President designated Comoros as AGOA eligible. Effective December 23, 2009, the President removed Guinea, Madagascar and Niger from the list of AGOA eligible countries while also restoring AGOA eligibility to Mauritania. In October 2011, the President restored eligibility to Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea and Niger. The U.S. Government will work with eligible countries to sustain their efforts to institute policy reforms, and with the remaining nine Sub-Saharan African countries to help them achieve eligibility.

The Act authorizes the President to designate countries as eligible to receive the benefits of AGOA if they are determined to have established, or are making continual progress toward establishing the following: market-based economies; the rule of law and political pluralism; elimination of barriers to U.S. trade and investment; protection of intellectual property; efforts to combat corruption; policies to reduce poverty, increasing availability of health care and educational opportunities; protection of human rights and worker rights; and elimination of certain child labor practices. These criteria have been embraced overwhelmingly by the vast majority of African nations, which are striving to achieve the objectives although none is expected to have fully implemented the entire list.

The eligibility criteria for GSP and AGOA substantially overlap, and countries must be GSP eligible in order to receive AGOA’s trade benefits including both expanded GSP and the apparel provisions. Although GSP eligibility does not imply AGOA eligibility, 47 of the 48 Sub-Saharan African countries are currently GSP eligible.

Countries Eligible for AGOA Benefits

Angola; Benin; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Chad; Comoros; Republic of Congo; Cote d’Ivoire; Djibouti; Ethiopia; Gabon; The Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Kenya; Lesotho; Liberia; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Swaziland; Tanzania; Togo; Uganda; Zambia.

Below is a table listing AGOA eligible countries, the effective date of their eligibility, and the effective date of their eligibility for AGOA apparel benefits if applicable.

* AGOA trade preferences granted on October 31, 2003.