A group of US congressmen is demanding for the relocation of a US-Africa trade meeting scheduled for later this year from South Africa, citing the country’s “deepening military relationship” with Russia.
They also claimed that S. Africa is in danger of losing its advantages under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), Washington’s main trade initiative, in a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top officials.
South Africa will host the AGOA Forum in Johannesburg, a gathering of African leaders and US officials to debate the program’s future, which is set to expire in 2025.
S. Africa’s AGOA exports to the United States hit about $1 billion in the first three months of this year, making it the program’s second-largest recipient behind Nigeria.
African countries want to prolong AGOA, which gives eligible countries’ exports privileged access to the United States.
“We are seriously concerned that hosting the 2023 AGOA Forum in South Africa would serve as an implicit endorsement of South Africa’s damaging support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the letter, dated June 9, read.
In response to the letter, South African foreign ministry spokesperson Clayson Monyela tweeted: “There is no decision by the State Department/White House to move the AGOA Forum from SA.” /Reuters
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