Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Niger Elegible for African Growth and Opportunity Act benefits
On October 25, President Obama added Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Niger to the list of countries eligible to receive the benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). For a country to be eligible, it must have put in place or show significant progress toward establishing a "market-based economies; the rule of law and political pluralism; elimination of barriers to U.S. trade and investment; protection of intellectual property; efforts to combat corruption; policies to reduce poverty, increasing availability of health care and educational opportunities; protection of human rights and worker rights; and elimination of certain child labor practices."
To reamin on this list these countries must sustain the above requirements. However, a country like Ivory Coast, among others, still has a lot to work to do in areas of human rights, rule of law, corruption, particularly after recent violent disputed presidential elections.
Click here to read the full White House press release. Read NGOs letter to Alassane Ouattara, President of Ivory Coast and the Embassy reply acknowledging receipt of the letter. Also click here to read an open letter to Luis Moreno Ocampo, the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Prosecutor, regarding his investogation of crimes committed during the standoff between President Outarra and the former Ivory Coast's President Laurent Gbagbo.
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