Sunday, December 28, 2014

Gambia says never benefitted from AGOA



The U.S. National Security Council has voiced concern over Gambia's move to block access to UN human rights investigators and for enacting new laws against homosexuality.
The Gambia government has stated on December 27 that it has never benefitted from a USA-Africa trade programme, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which offered tax-free export.

The reaction follows President Obama’s decision last week to remove Gambia and South Sudan from the trade propgramme over human rights violations.

“The government of the Republic of The Gambia congratulates the government of The United States of America for the removal of The Gambia from the list of eligible sub-Saharan African countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA),” it said in a statement Saturday.

It added: “The Gambia has never benefitted from the Act in the first place since a US Presidential Proclamation designated the country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country on March 28, 2003.

“Furthermore, in light of remarks in interviews and statements in the local media made by the Charge d'Affaires of the US embassy in Banjul, it has now become unequivocal that the government of the United States has no good intentions for the people of The Gambia.

“Consequently and bound by an unshakeable faith in the Almighty Allah alone, it should be clear that the dignified people of The Gambia will not succumb to outside pressures of any kind nor from any source, for the wellbeing of her people remains paramount for the government of The Gambia.”

The United States decision to drop Gambia from the duty-free trade programme took effect on Jan. 1, 2015. The U.S. National Security Council has voiced concern over Gambia's move to block access to UN human rights investigators and for enacting new laws against homosexuality.



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