Africa's Historic Pivot

IF RWANDA IS WILLING TO RISK PREFERENTIAL ACCESS TO THE US MARKET IN ORDER TO DEVELOP ITS DOMESTIC GARMENT INDUSTRY, THEN IT MUST BE CONFIDENT THAT IT WILL FIND ALTERNATIVE MARKETS FOR ITS EXPORTS

- Celestin Monga

THE YEAR 2018 was marked by tremendous economic and political turbulence around the world. And yet, for future historians, it may well be the year when Africa started to claim its intellectual and economic-policy independence.

The unlikely trigger for what could turn out to be a continent-wide strategic shift was Rwanda’s decision to increase tariffs on imported secondhand clothes and footwear in support of its local garment industry. This provoked an immediate hostile response from the US, which suspended duty-free status for Rwandan textile exports under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), America’s flagship trade legislation for the continent.

For a small, landlocked African country that relies heavily on trade, this was a big deal. But the fact that Rwanda held its ground confirmed that times have changed. If Rwanda is willing to risk preferential access to the US market in order to develop its domestic garment industry, then it must be confident that it will find alternative markets for its exports.

Meanwhile, other African countries have also adopted a more independent attitude vis-à-vis the major trading powers. African governments have increasingly been taking a stand on a wide range of potentially controversial issues, including trade policy in East Africa, land redistribution in Southern Africa, and macroeconomic and debt-management policies in North Africa.

African governments’ motive for stepping up now is not only economic; it is also about dignity, intellectual freedom, and a willingness to risk charting one’s own course. And, more broadly, African leaders recognize that the ongoing transformation of the global economy means that no country will have enough power to impose its strategic preferences on others, even when they are much smaller, as in the case of Rwanda and the US.