SA to lobby Obama to extend Africa trade agreement

President Jacob Zuma and his Cabinet will use US President Barack Obama's visit to the country to lobby for the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Wednesday.

Briefing journalists, Davies said Agoa, which allowed Southern African countries to ship certain products to the United States tariff-free, benefited both Africa and the US.

Agoa expires in 2015, but African countries are pushing for its extension.

"We are, as South Africa, strongly in support of the African position on this, which is to call for a roll-over for a significant period of time," Davies said.

He referred to an extension period of 15 to 20 years, which formed part of "some discussions in Washington".

"We think that would provide a degree of certainty; allow some investments on the basis of Agoa activities," Davies said.

"South Africa has been a beneficiary of Agoa, but we also think that Agoa is a very significant instrument to benefit the US, not least because it is a widely appreciated measure by the US, which builds the US a high degree of goodwill in its relations with other countries on the African continent."

Davies dismissed talk of "graduating South Africa out of Agoa", because the South African economy had become too big and sophisticated.

"We also pointed out that it's very important that we do not have a situation [in] which different members of regional integration arrangements, in particular in our case members of the Southern African Customs Union, are treated differently... .

"That tends to undermine the coherence of regional bodies and regional integration."

South Africa would argue that the country remained a gateway for exports to the US from the rest of the continent.

While the Obama administration could help lobby for the Agoa extension, convincing the US president would not lead to the automatic extension of Agoa.

"This is a piece of legislation that emanates from the US Congress, the legislature. It's not something which the administration is responsible for."

Davies said previous comments by senior Obama administration officials showed there was support for the Agoa extension.

Obama arrives in South Africa on Friday.

He will hold bilateral talks with President Jacob Zuma on Saturday. These will include discussions on trade.