The apparel sector which supports more than 66,000 direct jobs among the biggest winners Workers at an Export Processing Zone in Athi River, Machakos county /FILE US President Donald Trump has finally signed into law a bill extending the African Growth and Opportunity Act through December 2028, securing continued duty-free access to the American market for Kenya and other eligible African countries.
The Act was extended through the AGOA Extension Act, H.R. 6500, which was incorporated into a federal government continuing resolution, or spending and funding bill. The signing brings to an end months of uncertainty for African exporters, manufacturers and workers whose businesses depend heavily on preferential access to the world's largest consumer market.
For Kenya, the extension offers a major reprieve to the country's apparel industry, which has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of AGOA and accounts for about 70 per cent of Kenya's exports to the United States. The programme had expired on September 30, 2025, after the US Congress failed to agree on a longer-term renewal, leaving exporters facing uncertainty over tariffs, production plans and investment decisions.
President Trump signed a one-year extension in February this year, restoring the programme retroactively and extending it only until the end of 2026. The latest legislation now pushes the deadline to December 31, 2028, retaining AGOA's existing framework, eligibility requirements and product coverage.
AGOA was first enacted in 2000 as part of a US strategy to shift its engagement with sub-Saharan Africa away from traditional aid and emergency relief towards trade-led economic development, investment and job creation. The programme was initially extended to 2015 before Congress approved a further 10-year renewal in 2015, taking it to September 2025.
Subsequent short-term extensions have now kept the programme alive through 2026 and, following President Trump's signature, through the end of 2028.