US secretary of state Hilary Clinton recently concluded her tour of the African continent which saw her visiting 9 African countries from the West coast of Africa, to East African, then down south before concluding her tour back west in Benin.
This was indeed a significant tour as it was the first visit by a high-ranking US official since US President Barack Obama unveiled a new US strategy for sub-saharan africa in mid-june 2012 and therefore, top on the Secretary -of-state’s agenda was promoting this strategy.
The US strategy toward sub-saharan africa has four key pillars, one of them being to promote opportunity and development in sub-saharan Africa. In a subsection to this pillar, the strategy further seeks to promote low-emissions growth and sustainable development and to build resilience to climate change as well as to mobilize financing to support the development and deployment of clean energy in the continent.
Other significant highlights of this visit were assurances from the secretary of state that the administration would push for the extension of the AGOA after it expires in 2015 so that sub-Saharan states can continue to enjoy the benefits made thus far. The African Growth and Opportunity Act, or Trade and Development Act of 2000; is a legislation that has been approved by the U.S. Congress in May 2000. The purpose of this legislation is to assist the economies of sub-saharan africa and to improve economic relations between the united states and the region.
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