U.S. imports from Africa are on track to decline for the fourth consecutive year, as the country ramps up its own production of oil and gas. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau affirm that, aside from oil and commodities such as precious stones, cocoa, and ores, the United States does not buy much from Africa.
Washington, meanwhile, wants U.S. companies to sell more goods to Africa. Trade Winds-Africa, a U.S. Department of Commerce/U.S. Commercial Service conference and trade mission slated for September 14-21, 2015, will allow U.S. companies to explore markets in Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania. Target sectors in those markets include energy, automotive and transportation, information and communication technology, infrastructure, agricultural equipment and chemicals, and even cosmetics and toiletries.
Total U.S.-Africa trade (exports and imports) dwindled to $85 billion in 2013, from $125 billion in 2011 and just $99 billion in 2012. Rather than look to new markets for raw materials that are vulnerable to price swings, Africa should be galvanizing its manufacturing and technology sectors for both local and export consumption.
Petroleum products have long dominated U.S. imports from Africa, despite legislation signed into law in 2000 – the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) – allowing nearly all marketable goods produced in designated countries to enter the U.S. market duty-free.
A Bloomberg Businessweek article in May noted that since 2010 the United States has cut the amount of oil it imports from African countries by 90 percent, from an average of roughly 2 million barrels per day to about 170,000. Energy officials predict that by 2019 the United States will be pumping 9.3 million barrels of oil a day.
In the most current Census report, U.S. imports from Africa from January 2014-October 2014 valued $29.1 billion, down from $44.6 billion in the same period a year earlier. Total imports from Africa in 2013 valued $50.06 billion, of which sub-Saharan Africa accounted for $39.3 billion, a 20.8 percent drop from 2012.
AGOA is intended to expand U.S. trade with sub-Saharan Africa. The region accounts for just over 1 percent of U.S. imports from the entire world. In the first quarter of 2014, however, AGOA imports totaled $3.4 billion, 51 percent less than the previous year, mainly due to a 57 percent decrease in petroleum product imports.
In 2013, approximately 52 percent of U.S. imports from sub-Saharan Africa came from crude oil exporters Nigeria and Angola, making them the top sub-Saharan Africa suppliers to the United States, as in previous years and currently. Rounding out the region’s top suppliers to the United States are South Africa (mainly vehicles and parts, iron/steel, fruits and nuts); Chad (mainly crude oil); and the Democratic Republic of Congo (mainly crude oil).
There is some good news. Imports from non-oil/non-commodity sectors, such as textiles and apparel, are increasing, albeit moderately.
Dwindling U.S. imports from an Africa overly dependent on raw material sales means the continent now must move quickly on policies, infrastructure and investments that encourage and support research and development and technological innovation — key ingredients for sustainable manufacturing and competitive exports.
