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Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau speaks at the Afreximbank signing ceremony at the Westcliff Hotel in Johannesburg on 04 February 2026.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau has confirmed that South Africa remains eligible for the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA).
This as United States President Donald Trump signs the trade preference programme into law.
The re-authorised AGOA programme has been extended for one more year until the 31st of December.
It gives some sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to export products into the US market.
Tau was addressing the media on the sidelines of the Afreximbank Accession signing ceremony in Johannesburg.
“In the decisions of Congress and the Senate, South Africa has been included in AGOA, of course it’s going to the president. We know that there have been people calling for an out of cycle review of South Africa’s participation on the basis that they don’t to encourage a more bilateral engagement with South Africa. We continue to hold a different view about the need to extend AGOA and yes, if you want to engage with South Africa on a bilateral basis, we do have an appetite to do that. It’s important because South Africa has been the leading country utilising AGOA and there are critical supply and value chains that affect different countries in the AGOA programme and it’s important that we continue those engagements.”
