Rwandan exporters have welcomed the United States House of Representatives’ decision to approve a three-year extension of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), describing it as a boost to market access and medium long-term planning. The House passed the extension on January 12, following the programme’s expiration on September 1, 2025, after a 10-year renewal. If approved by the US Senate, the extension will keep AGOA in force until December 31, 2028, preserving duty-free access to the US market for eligible Sub-Saharan African countries. ALSO READ: Rwanda’s coffee export revenues hit record $150m in 2025 For more than two decades, AGOA has enabled African exporters from 32 sub-Saharan countries to access the US market without tariffs on thousands of products. Its temporary lapse in September last year created uncertainty for businesses reliant on the framework, forcing many to operate on short-term horizons. Under AGOA, countries must undergo annual reviews to ensure they meet strict standards related to the rule of law and political pluralism, anti-corruption, intellectual property rights, human rights, and market access. Rwanda eligible for AGOA Rwanda is currently designated as an AGOA beneficiary country, which means it can export many products to the United States duty-free under the programme, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). However, the country’s apparel (textiles and clothing) benefits were suspended in 2018 by the U.S. President Donald Trump during his first term in office due to Rwanda’s decision to phase out importation of secondhand clothes. Even without apparel benefits, Rwanda can export thousands of products to the US tariff-free, including agricultural commodities, minerals and raw materials, manufactured and semi-processed goods, as well as specialty and niche exports. Simeon Ngendahayo, Managing Director of Wealth Hill Coffee Roasters, observed that the AGOA extension is an opportunity to deepen Rwanda’s presence in the US market. “The agreement keeps the gates open to a major market,” he said. “Americans consume a lot of our coffee, and tariff-free access makes our prices competitive.” Currently, the company exports ready-to-drink coffee but plans to scale up green coffee exports while gradually increasing value addition. “Nearly 90 per cent of our coffee exports have been raw material,” he said. “Our goal is to reduce that gap by increasing ready-to-consume exports, which also raises incomes for farmers, and AGOA extension is a huge opportunity.” According to Lauren Nkuranga, the outgoing founding board president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Rwanda, the extension restores predictability, allowing exporters and investors to plan beyond quarterly cycles. “The bill includes a relief provision allowing refunds of duties already paid on imports from AGOA-eligible countries that entered the United States between the October 1 expiry and when President Trump signs the renewal into law. That's real money back in businesses' pockets,” she noted. She added that the extension preserves the preferential market access framework that many companies have built their supply chains around, though some uncertainties remain. “One open question is whether the renewed framework will protect African exports from future tariffs imposed directly by the White House under presidential authority,” she said. ‘AGOA doesn’t change Trump tariffs’ The bill maintains that the renewal of AGOA does not impact the Trump Administration’s tariff programme—only the statutory tariff schedule that is set by Congress, which includes the baseline tariffs. The current US administration has imposed a baseline 10 per cent tariff on all imports. According to Nkuranga, Rwanda falls into the lowest tariff category, compared to some regional peers facing rates of 15 per cent or higher. ALSO READ: Is Africa getting a good deal from AGOA? “For Rwanda, the impact is manageable but real,” she said. “Our coffee, tea, and minerals are now 10% more expensive to American buyers, which could shift some demand to other origins or compress margins for our exporters.” Nkuranga highlighted that because commodities like coffee are not produced domestically in the US, American consumers ultimately absorb part of the cost. However, exporters could still lose market share to competitors. Despite these headwinds, she observed that the US remains among Rwanda’s top five export destinations, and trade relations continue to grow. According to available data from USTR, U.S. goods and services trade with Rwanda totaled an estimated $368.9 million in 2024, up 5.2 percent ($18.1 million) from 2023. U.S. goods exports to Rwanda in 2024 were $44.7 million, up 17.4 percent ($6.6 million) from 2023, while U.S. goods imports from Rwanda in 2024 totaled $30.2 million, down 19.9 percent ($7.5 million) from 2023. Sectors set to benefit most Agriculture remains the backbone of Rwanda’s exports to the US, with coffee accounting for about 16 per cent of total exports and tea roughly 10 per cent. Other exports include forestry products, primary metals, processed foods, and leather goods. “These specialty agricultural products can enter the US duty-free under AGOA, which matters enormously for our coffee cooperatives and tea estates competing against producers from other origins,” Nkuranga said. She also pointed to the rapidly expanding minerals sector, particularly critical minerals. Rwanda recently signed a letter of intent with Trinity Metals and US-based firm Nathan Trotter to develop a reliable tin supply chain under a $100 million public-private partnership. For Rwanda-based American businesses exporting to the US, Nkuranga described AGOA’s extension as “breathing room, but with caveats.” She stressed that AGOA provides certainty for investment and job creation, noting that across Africa, the programme has supported an estimated 1.3 million jobs and generated over $500 billion in duty-free exports to the US, while sustaining nearly half a million American jobs. “The concern is that even with AGOA extended, the additional tariffs introduced this year still apply,” she said. “The practical benefit of AGOA depends heavily on whether more tariffs are layered on top.” “The combination of AGOA preferences, baseline tariffs, and policy uncertainty means that Rwanda-based American businesses must remain nimble, diversify markets, and continue engaging with both governments,” she said. Government position The Ministry of Trade and Industry declined to comment regarding Rwanda's options and position, citing the need to wait for the US Senate’s decision on the AGOA extension. Persistent challenges Nkuranga highlighted several ongoing challenges, including uneven tariff regimes, complex rules of origin, and compliance requirements that many businesses struggle to navigate. She noted that AGOA remains underutilised relative to its potential. Logistics and scale also pose obstacles, she added. Rwanda’s landlocked geography means higher transport costs, challenges in reaching ports, and difficulties meeting minimum shipment volumes. She also pointed to the suspension of Rwanda’s apparel exports under AGOA following the country’s ban on second-hand clothing, which excludes Rwanda from AGOA’s third-country fabric rule, one of the programme’s most valuable provisions for least-developed countries.
