US kicks Burkina Faso out of AGOA

At the Agoa summit in Washington, August 4, 2014. AFP PHOTO / Karen BLEIER

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Burkina Faso was excluded from AGOA, a US law allowing African countries to export to the United States without paying customs duties.

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Little by little,

is becoming more and more distant.

Washington says it is deeply concerned about the unconstitutional changes underway in the country and will submit to Burkinabè leaders in the coming days clear benchmarks for reintegrating the trade agreement.

Last March, following the January coup, the United States had already terminated the Millennium Challenge Account, an economic cooperation and investment program that represented approximately $500 million for

Ouagadougou is also excluded from the regional MCA program of a similar amount. 

For the economy of Burkina Faso,

will have little immediate effect, because on the one hand, Burkina Faso's exports targeted by AGOA represent only a few million dollars per year and they concern crafts and textiles.

On the other hand, if companies no longer benefit from the exemption from customs duties, they are not prohibited from trading with their partners in the United States.

However, the political signal sent by Washington is bad for Burkina Faso and could encourage other countries to limit their cooperation or to abandon investments in the country. 

It is perhaps on this point that exclusion will have the most damaging effects, because, as summed up by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ablassé Ouedraogo, "

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• Burkina Faso

• United States

• Economy Africa

• Economy