The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), officially expired last week, ending a 25-year-old trade lifeline to South Africa (SA) and several key industries.

According to BussinessTech, the Act, which was enacted in May 2000, enabled approximately 17% of SA exports to the US to enter duty-free.BusinessTech further recorded that over the quarter-century, the Act has been critically important for SA’s vehicle manufacturing industry, in particular, with agriculture, apparel, chemicals and equipment also benefiting.

According to data from Aluma Capital, SA’s benefits from AGOA have just grown over the years.It further notes that South Africa exported an estimated R71.5 billion through AGOA in 2024, accounting for 46% of total exports to the US that year, in 2019, around R31 billion was traded under the Act and this shot up to R54 billion in 2022 and hit R64 billion in 2023.The R71.5 billion estimate in 2024 is the highest yet, with the total over the period coming to just under R300 billion.