AGOA CS Network

The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Civil Society Network (AGOA CS Network) was established on January 17, 2003 at the end of the AGOA Civil Society Forum in Phoenix, Mauritius. It includes 102 member organizations from the United States, Mauritius, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Namibia, Mali, Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Foundation for Democracy in Africa (FDA) and the Mauritius Council of Social Services (MCOSS) were elected as co-chairs and empowered to establish and manage the Secretariat for the AGOA Civil Society Network. The Secretariat also was empowered to make all necessary preparations for the next AGOA Civil Society Forum.

Visit Our AGOA CS Website!

The AGOA Civil Society Network is a consortium of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), small-to-medium sized businesses, chambers of commerce and other groups in the United States and Africa that are interested in the successful application of AGOA for the benefit of the people of the US and Africa.

This focus is with an eye towards improving the ease and understanding of US-Africa trade and fully utilizing the benefits of AGOA, thus securing a place for African countries in the global economy and raising the standards of living for Africans.

Mission

In keeping with the spirit of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the mission of the network is to empower African people through their civil society organizations to work with governments and businesses to take maximum advantage of AGOA €™s benefits on behalf of the citizens of their countries.

The network will accomplish this mission through three means:

1. Monitoring compliance with AGOA eligibility requirements,

2. Providing technical assistance to its members, both public and private sectors on AGOA compliance and trade capacity where feasible; and

3. Tracking the impact of AGOA, specifically, and generally, regarding trade on African societies

Objectives

Objectives of the AGOA Civil Society Network include: increased US-Africa trade, economic development, and the establishment of good governance, transparency, sustainable democracy and human rights throughout the countries of Africa.

Ongoing Projects

• Annual report on eligibility requirement compliance of AGOA nations and assessment of compliance by non-AGOA nations compiled by national network affiliates
• Ongoing training by network member NGOs on trade capacity for African and American businesses to support and expand AGOA trade by small and medium enterprises
• Ongoing training by network member NGOs on trade, economic, political and social policy issues for African governments to enhance AGOA eligibility and compliance
• Annual report on the impact of trade on African societies that measures the impact beyond commercial statistics and offers recommendations on broadening the benefits of trade

For membership information on the AGOA CS Network visit:http://www.democracy-africa.org/AGOACSONET_Membership.html