Africa Home » Country/Regional Programs » Sectors » Initiatives » Features » Success Stories » Photo Library » Publications » Site Map » USAID Africa Staff » FAQs » Africa Internships »
	AGCI Summary June 2009 English [pdf, 165kb] French [pdf, 232kb] Portuguese [pdf, 125kb] Read more about AGCI's programs in AGCI Publications
	Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) APHIS USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Office of the US Trade Representative

AGCI Enabling Environment Policy Reform

Photo: Richard Nyberg, USAID

Each day an average of 10 aspiring entrepreneurs use the services of SENEGAL's New Enterprise Support Office

AGCI contributes to improving the enabling environment for trade and investment both nationally and regionally. At the country level, projects have helped overcome significant legal, regulatory, and administrative constraints to trade and investment. At the regional level, efforts have helped to advance cross-border integration and boost intra- and extra-regional trade.

Among the significant enabling environment achievements achieved by AGCI programs in FY 2008 are:

• Through various interventions with the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), helping to spur an increase in extra-regional exports of over $183.5 million.
• Providing high-value analytic assistance for national governments and the Regional Economic Communities that led to such policy decisions as the Government of Ethiopia ending a ban on leather imports, the Government of Nigeria lowering tariffs on goods coming from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the Governments of Swaziland and Zambia undertaking major customs modernization and reforms.
• Facilitating the reform of major laws and regulations to improve the enabling environment for trade and investment in Ghana, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zambia.
• Helping improve Senegal's Doing Business ranking from 168th in 2008 to 149th in 2009, and contributing to the country being cited by the World Bank as one of the top 10 African reformers.
• Facilitating 42 significant national and regional legal, regulatory, or institutional actions to improve the implementation of international trade and investment agreements, including Africa's regional trade protocols.
• Assisting in improving technical standards and trading rules at the sectoral level for such products as maize, dairy, and export commodities.
• Training 3,775 Africans at trade and investment environment-related events.

Downloads

• Improving the Policy, Regulatory, and Enforcement Environment for Private Sector-Led Trade and Investment (pdf, 142kb)

Back to Top ^