Photo : Ben Curtis, AP Photo
NIAS Area Studies
AFRICA MONITOR
Photo : Ben Curtis, AP Photo
IN BRIEF
By Anu Maria Joseph
US to remove four countries from Agoa
On 31 October, US President Joe Biden announced that the US will remove Uganda, Gabon, Niger and the Central African Republic from the US-Africa trade programme. Biden stated that those countries are involved in “gross violations” of human rights. In 2000, the US introduced the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). It gives duty-free access to more than 1,800 US-based products. Biden stated that Niger and Gabon are ineligible to Agoa as they “"have not established, or are not making continual progress toward establishing the protection of political pluralism and the rule of law.” Additionally, CAR and Uganda carry out "gross violations of internationally recognised human rights.” (“US to remove Uganda and three other African countries from Agoa trade deal,” BBC, 31 October 2023)
Tanzania: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s visit
On 31 October, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier began his three-day visit to Tanzania. He expressed “shame” over the colonial atrocities Germany carried out in Tanzania. More than 300,000 people were killed during the Maji Maji anti-colonial rebellion in the 1900s in Tanzania. Steinmeier stated: "What happened here is our shared history, the history of your ancestors and the history of our ancestors in Germany. I would like to ask for forgiveness for what Germans did to your ancestors here.” In 2021, Germany acknowledged the genocide it carried out in Namibia in 1994 and announced reparations worth USD 1.34 billion. (Germany asks forgiveness for Tanzania colonial crimes, BBC, 31 October 2023)