# Aluma Capital chief economist Frederick Mitchell says South Africa being removed from the African Growth and Opportunity Act means the country loses a competitive edge in niche exports and puts thousands of jobs at risk. In 2025, a total of 89-percent of South African exports to the United States entered under ordinary trade terms, while about ten-percent entered under AGOA, down from 28-percent in 2024. Mitchell says government cannot afford to “sleepwalk” through the crisis and must negotiate pragmatic bilateral trade solutions and address mutual security and policy concerns.
An economist says government cannot “sleepwalk” through the AGOA crisis