In view of creeping global protectionist measures, Ghana and its African counterparts must urgently reposition their trade and industrial strategies in response to this state of affairs, international relations scholar Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso has noted.
For instance, protectionist measures by the United States under President Donald Trump has witnessed a baseline 10 percent duty on all imports into the U.S. – with significantly higher rates for selected countries, which undermines multilateral trade norms and directly threatens Africa’s fragile export-dependent economies.
Of particular concern is impacts on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) – a 25-year-old U.S. trade policy that provides duty-free access for more than 1,800 products from eligible sub-Saharan African countries, including Ghana.
Although AGOA remains technically in force until its expiry in September, Dr. Antwi-Danso – during a presentation in Accra at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), where he is a Senior Fellow – described its future as “uncertain at best” in the wake of Trump’s across-the-board tariffs and his administration’s unwillingness to renew preferential arrangements.
Ghana’s export portfolio under AGOA has largely revolved around cocoa, crude oil and horticultural products, which will now become less competitive in U.S. markets.
Sectors such as agriculture and mining – which provide significant employment – could suffer from reduced export revenues, leading to job losses and rising consumer prices.
Economic diversification, industrial policy reform and a coordinated continental response through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is considered the most rational alternative for now.
To this end, Dr. Antwi-Danso urged Ghana to capitalise on the AfCFTA by scaling up regional trade infrastructure and policy harmonisation.
With intra-African trade still accounting for less than 18 percent of total African trade, he said Ghana must invest in transport corridors, Customs efficiency and regional value chains to reduce dependence on Western markets.
He further called for accelerating import substitution and value addition, tasking government to court manufacturers in tariff-hit economies such as India and Bangladesh to relocate operations into Ghana, leveraging its position within AfCFTA.
The IEA Senior Fellow also recommended a diversification of Ghana’s trade partnerships. With China having overtaken the U.S. as Africa’s largest trading partner – reaching over US$250billion in 2023 – he advocated deeper engagement with East Asian and Latin American markets.
Bilateral agreements and South-South cooperation could help Ghana reduce vulnerability to Western policy shifts.
