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News Release 20-036
Inv. No(s). 332-571
Contact: Peg O'Laughlin, 202-205-1819
The U.S. International Trade Commission today released its report U.S. Trade and Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Recent Trends and New Developments.
The USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, conducted the investigation at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).
In its request, the USTR asked the USITC to provide information on sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) trade performance under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
The USTR also asked for specific information on how the enforcement of intellectual property rights and other policy measures affect trade and investment across the region, as well as a better understanding of growing markets for biotechnology and digital products and services, particularly for key markets such as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Côte d’Ivoire.
As requested by the USTR, the USITC report provides:
- an overview of U.S. exports to and imports from SSA of goods and services, as well as U.S. outward foreign direct investment (FDI) to SSA countries over the 2016–2018 period;
- examples of how products and services from the United States integrate into key SSA value chains;
- a description of the intellectual property environment, including national and regional laws, enforcement measures, and infringement issues, in key SSA markets;
- a broad overview and examples of technological innovation in the SSA food and agricultural production, processing, and marketing system;
- a broad overview and descriptions of recent developments in the digital economy for key SSA markets;
- a summary of the AGOA utilization strategies that have been developed by SSA countries;
- a summary of recent developments of regional integration efforts in SSA.
Detailed highlights of the Commission’s findings can be found in the report’s Executive Summary.
U.S. Trade and Investment with Sub-Saharan Africa: Recent Trends and New Developments (Investigation No. 332-571, USITC publication 5043, April 2020) is available on the USITC's Internet site at https://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub5043.pdf.
The USITC issued an earlier report on U.S. trade and investment in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2018.
USITC general factfinding investigations cover matters related to tariffs or trade and are generally conducted at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative, the House Committee on Ways and Means, or the Senate Committee on Finance. The resulting reports convey the Commission's objective findings and independent analyses on the subjects investigated. The Commission makes no recommendations on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation, the USITC submits its findings and analyses to the requester. General factfinding investigation reports are subsequently released to the public, unless they are classified by the requester for national security reasons.