African leaders seek 15-year extension for AGOA

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African leaders yesterday urged the United States  to renew the trade benefits programme giving duty-free access to billions of dollars of African exports for 15 years, saying it would help cement trade relations and boost development in the region.

South African President Jacob Zuma, one of nearly 50 African leaders in Washington to attend a three-day summit, said the renewal of the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) when it expires next year, is one of the key issues for this week’s talks.

“Almost 95 per cent of South African exports receive preferential treatment under AGOA,” Zuma said at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event, joining calls by the African Union for a 15-year extension.

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No to ‘extension of colonialism’: Gambia dumps British Commonwealth.

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Gambia has withdrawn from the Commonwealth, a collection of 54 nations made up largely of former British colonies, saying it will “never be a member of any neo-colonial institution”.
In an unexpected announcement broadcast by the west African nation on state television on Wednesday it was not immediately clear what prompted the decision to leave the Commonwealth, which is headed by the Queen.

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