The imminent end of AGOA, a preferential trade agreement with the United States, threatens tens of thousands of jobs in Kenya and reveals Africa’s economic vulnerability to international trade mechanisms.
Kenya faces an imminent economic crisis with the September 30 expiration of AGOA, a crucial US trade law. This measure allowed the country to export to the United States duty-free, stimulating significant investment, particularly in the textile sector. Its disappearance directly threatens at least 66,000 jobs and risks affecting nearly 660,000 people whose livelihoods depend on this sector.
Beyond its economic impact, this turning point raises fundamental human rights questions. AGOA was conditional on respect for the rule of law, anti-corruption measures, and workers’ rights. Its disappearance highlights the paradox of a development model dependent on external trade preferences: while designed to encourage good governance, its withdrawal risks worsening poverty and inequality.
Losing competitiveness compared to countries like Bangladesh or Vietnam would plunge thousands of workers, mostly women, into immediate precariousness. This situation would call into question their right to an adequate standard of living and highlight the vulnerability of African economies to international trade decisions.
Beyond Kenya, the issue concerns the entire African continent. The situation reveals the difficulty of reconciling integration into global trade, investment attractiveness, and the protection of fundamental rights.
This crisis underscores the urgent need for African countries to develop resilient economies that are less dependent on external trade mechanisms. Africa must accelerate regional economic integration, diversify its exports, and strengthen its continental value chains to guarantee its economic sovereignty and prevent its development from being dependent on foreign trade laws that are subject to expiration.
The ADH also calls on developed countries not to sacrifice human rights for the benefit of commercial interests, in order to allow the emergence of a true balance in economic partnerships.