Nairobi, Kenya – is time on the creator of jeans Levi and Wrangler in the capital Kenya in Nairobi. Hundreds of sewing machines in a crowded, air -conditioned factory. On the other floor, workers pack clothes for the American market.
In balance, the fate hangs about 16,000 workers in the factory in the United Aryan export processing zone. In September, a duty -free business agreement between Kenya and the United States could expire according to the Act on African growth and occasions or Agoa.
The founder of the factory, Pankaj Bedi, said that manufacturers could not compete well on the US market unless the AGOA agreement was renewed due to a difficult business environment in Sub -Saharan Africa.
Without Agoa-Little, African nations would benefit from certain US expectations in areas, including administration and human rights-mono Kenyan goods, no more accessible access to the US market. And they would be exposed to the uncertainty of the global tariff campaign of Trump’s administration.
It’s worried about the continent. South African President Cyril Ramaphos, spoke with journalists after his meeting of the oval office with President Donald Trump, noted that Agoa “will be discussed … It is also at the top” in the US administration.
Bedi said that his business benefits from the 25 years of Agoa agreement, but will not survive if the agreement is not renewed.
“This time we hope that President Trump will go through it for a long time, then a long -term strategy can play,” he said. The longest extension has been for decades.
When creating Bedi playgrounds, he believed that Africa offers perfect alternative sources to Asia with a large and youthful labor force. According to the UN, seventy percent of people in Sub -Saharan Africa are.
“I think there will be a real shift of the supply chain and Africa is the last limit. We can’t go to the moon and start producing there,” Bedi said.
The Kenyan government would not comment on the agreement or why it could be endangered.
Economist Wangari Muikia said that the new American tariffs reflect the shift towards the revival of American production, “in accordance with Trump’s priority for re -work”, but warned that the ending agoa could “stretch diplomatic ties and weaken US soft power”.
African governments promoted Agoa as the main Avenue creation of jobs.
In Kenya, Agoa led to the creation of 66,000 jobs since the beginning of the program in 2000, according to the government statistics published in 2024.
In 2023, according to the US Department of Trade, the total export of Kenya under Agoa, including agricultural products, clothing and crafts worth $ 510 million, was, including agricultural products, clothing and crafts. United Aryan said it exported an average of 8 million jeans per year from Kenya to the US
However, some African governments and leaders raised objections to AGOA conditions. Ugandan President Yowereri Museveni criticized this program after being used in 2023 to push him on his attitude to homosexuality.
Kenyan former UN Ambassador, Martin Kimani, said in an interview with the Associated Press that they believe that Agoa was not good for the economy before the unpredictability of Agoa.
“The actual measure of the business regime is its predictability and integration into long -term production,” he said. “The tariffs and the upcoming signal of the expiration of the program that Agoa is not a stable basis for African industrial growth.”
If Kenya has not been widespread before, the country will have to look for alternative markets such as the African area of continental free trade to ensure the loss of jobs and manufacturers to maintain goods, said economist James Shikwati, founder and director of the Interior’s economic network.
The continental free trade area has shortcomings that include insufficient infrastructure that makes the costly transport of goods, distrust, which makes it difficult for some countries to be fully open to trading with neighbors, and lack of strong institutions that can mediate trade disputes.
Judging, according to recent business policies Trump’s administration, every business partner will have to reconsider their involvement in the US, Shikwati added.
For those whose jobs could be affected, there are concerns.
The united Aryan employee Valdes Samora hopes that she will keep the machines buzzing and that he will not get lost after September.
The 59 -year -old father has been working in the company for two decades. His wife also works there. Workers are paid on average $ 200 per month in a country where the minimum wage is $ 115.
“I never finished my education, but thanks to this work I was able to educate my children,” he said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency without text modifications.
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