According to the US Embassy, Ghana’s export of apparel and clothing under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has expanded from less than US$250,000 in 2001 to more than US$9million last year. Said Melinda Tabler-Stone, Charge d’Afffaires at the US Embassy at a sensitisation workshop on ‘Exporting to the US under AGOA: with investment partnerships with US companies and technical assistance from USAID, we fully expect to see another large increase in exports in 2016 with the potential to provide employment opportunities for thousands of people.’

Through USAID, the US government is working closely with industries such as the apparel sector to help realise Ghana’s potential and we are seeing encouraging signs of progress, she added.

The workshop was the first in a series of AGOA outreach events organised by the AGOA Trade Resource Centre at the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in collaboration with the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) and the USAID West Africa Trade and Investment Hub.