The United States has dropped Burkina Faso from its African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade preference program highlighting deep concerns over “unconstitutional change” in government in the West African country, the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) office revealed on Sunday.
Burkina Faso experienced two military coups in 2022 as a result of frustration with the government’s inability to put a stop to an Islamist insurgency. Despite efforts to increase security made by both the previous and current juntas, Islamist attacks have persisted.
In response to the U.S. decision, the junta’s foreign affairs ministry reaffirmed a November declaration that the timeline for a return to democracy had not changed.
In a July deal with the West African regional group ECOWAS, Burkina Faso agreed to revert to constitutional governance in 24 months.
The U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) grants duty-free entry to the United States to sub-Saharan African countries that meet specific criteria, such as removing obstacles to U.S. trade and investment and moving closer to political pluralism.
The USTR’s office said Burkina Faso had failed to meet the requirements of the AGOA statute and would be given “clear benchmarks” for a pathway toward reinstatement to the trade program, adding that Washington would work with the Burkinabe government.
Burkina Faso is one of the world’s poorest countries. Militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have killed thousands of civilians there, creating one of Africa’s fastest-growing humanitarian crises.
Nearly 2 million people have been displaced and reside in makeshift camps, many run by the United Nations, that dot the arid countryside.
Just before Christmas, Burkina Faso’s military government ordered a senior United Nations official to leave the country, a decision that was contested by the U.N.
Although the government did not give a reason at the time, its foreign minister later accused the official, Barbara Manzi, of painting a negative picture of the security situation in the country.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) provides duty-free treatment to goods of designated sub-Saharan African countries (SSAs). The program dates from 2000 and has the goal of promoting economic growth through good governance and free markets.
