Governance
The US has Removed Three African Countries from a Ta By Carlos Mureithi
THE US HAS barred Ethiopia, Guinea, and Mali from accessing the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a two-decade old agreement which provides African countries with duty-free access to the US market for more than 1,800 products. The move comes two months after president Joe Biden told Congress that he plans to cut off the three countries from the program over coups and alleged human rights violations, which put them in violation
of the program’s eligibility requirements. In 2019, African countries exported goods worth $8.4 billion (pdf) to the US under AGOA. The agreement, which was enacted in 2000, has helped participating countries develop products for US consumers, grow industries, and create jobs. As an example, the agreement has helped to create a huge textile industry in Ethiopia that exported garments worth $722 million (pdf) to the US duty-free from 2000 to 2020, including to major
Digital Money
situation in Ghana. It appears that both projects—Nigeria’s e-naira and Ghana’s e-cedi—are here to stay, as the authorities are unlikely to roll them back considering the significant investments involved until now, and their willingness to embrace digital transformation. The eventual success of CBDCs in both countries could inspire similar projects in other territories of the sub-region, thus placing the eco further behind the curve. “CBDCs are looming in the region not only because the eco is not ready, but because it’s not even foreseeable,” says Jonas Soares, associate professor at University of Amilcar Cabral in Guinea Bissau, the only Portuguese-speaking country in West Africa. “If stakeholders cease dawdling over decision-making, take a strong stance, and work diligently towards achieving the common currency all the countries in the sub-region will get behind this intriguing project that has stalled for so long and for too long.”
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If we are truly independent and sovereign we deserve our own money and that is what I want the eco’s s t a ke h o l d e r s to consider as well.” Will Ghana and Nigeria forgo CBDCs to make way for the eco? It remains unclear whether the governments of either country will abandon their respective nascent CBDC projects any time soon to revive hopes for the eco. Following a ban on cryptocurrency transactions in Nigeria last February, the e-naira has been touted as a viable alternative for cross-border trade and remittance inflows even when it does not possess all the features of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, and will likely do ecolittle to dampen enthusiasm for crypto in the country. Some e-naira critics say similar solutions already exist in the country’s financial system, like online banking and bank card transactions. It’s a similar 64
January-February 2022
https://senegalbgc.org/blog/2021/12/30/hopes-fora-west-african-single-currency-fade-as-ghanaand-nigeria-launch-digital-money Source: https://qz.com/africa/2108317/whathappens-to-the-eco-when-the-e-naira-and-ecedi-launch/ Image credit: mbbaglobal.com, ledgerinsights. com, Dreamstime
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