Kenya has welcomed the passage of a bill by the United States House of Representatives extending the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) by three years, describing the move as a vital boost for the country\u2019s textile and apparel sector and a chance to expand exports.<\/p>\n
\nIn a statement, the Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry said the extension would help stabilise the sector, which operates largely within Kenya\u2019s Export Processing Zones (EPZs) and employs more than 80,000 people directly and about 250,000 indirectly. The ministry said the renewal would ease prolonged uncertainty and unlock renewed confidence and growth.<\/p>\n
\n“The United States House of Representatives has passed a Bill to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for a further three years, marking a critical milestone in US-Africa trade relations,” Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui said.<\/p>\n
\nHe added that the extension would also enable Kenya to expand exports beyond textiles, create jobs, generate wealth, and strengthen the country\u2019s long-standing trade partnership with the United States.<\/p>\n
\nExport Processing Zones<\/p>\n
\n“In Kenya, the textile and apparel industries operating within the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) employ over 80,000 people directly and an additional 250,000 indirectly. The uncertainty that had previously engulfed the sector will now give way to renewed confidence and expansion. As a Ministry, we aim to grow exports of additional products under the AGOA framework beyond textiles, ensuring that Kenya fully leverages this opportunity to create jobs and generate wealth,” said Kinyanjui.<\/p>\n
\nThe ministry said Kenya plans to use the AGOA framework to diversify its export basket beyond textiles, targeting products such as coffee, tea, horticultural goods, and tourism services.<\/p>\n
\nThe Cabinet Secretary also pointed to ongoing discussions on a bilateral trade agreement with the United States aimed at covering additional sectors and deepening trade ties.<\/p>\n
\n“During the recent visit by H.E. President William Ruto to Washington, D.C., Kenya’s request for enhanced market access to the US was discussed. Kenya’s major exports to the U.S. include textiles and apparel, coffee, tea, horticultural products, and tourism services. Expanding our export basket remains a key priority and aligns with our broader strategic economic agenda,” said Kinyanjui.<\/p>\n
\nThe US House of Representatives voted to extend AGOA through 2028, preserving a key pillar of US\u2013Africa trade that grants eligible countries duty-free access to the American market. The Bill was passed on Monday by a decisive 340\u201354 vote and now heads to the Senate for consideration.<\/p>\n
\nFirst enacted in 2000, AGOA is credited with supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs across more than 30 sub-Saharan African countries, particularly in textiles, agriculture, and light manufacturing.<\/p>\n
\nTemporary relief<\/p>\n
\nThe vote offers temporary relief to African governments and investors who had pushed for at least a short-term renewal after the programme lapsed earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\nHowever, uncertainty remains. South Africa\u2019s continued eligibility is under scrutiny amid strained relations with Washington, raising the possibility that Africa\u2019s most industrialised economy could be excluded.<\/p>\n
\nAGOA\u2019s impact has also been weakened by bilateral tariffs introduced under US President Donald Trump in August 2025, which imposed import taxes of between 10 per cent and 30 per cent on exports that had previously entered the US duty-free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kenya has welcomed the passage of a bill by the United States House of Representatives extending the African…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[9607,8212,12664,14189,84,80,14194,517,14190,14191,14192,14193],"class_list":{"0":"post-23017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-african-growth-and-opportunity-act","9":"tag-agoa","10":"tag-agoa-extension","11":"tag-agoa-extension-to-boost-kenyas-textile-and-apparel-sector","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-kenya","14":"tag-ministry-of-investments","15":"tag-national","16":"tag-says-cs-kinyanjui","17":"tag-trade-and-industry","18":"tag-trade-cabinet-secretary-lee-kinyanjui","19":"tag-united-states-house-of-representatives"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}