Companies accredited to export garment and apparel to the US under tax- and quota-free trade deal added 8,802 jobs last year on rising demand ahead of the expiry of the Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) in September.
The 2025 Economic Survey by the Kenya National Bureau (KNBS) of Statistics puts the number of employees engaged by the Agoa-accredited firms at 66,804 in 2024, a growth of 15.18 percent over 58,002 staff a year earlier.
The additional jobs represent a rebound from a 12.46 percent drop last year from 66,260 employees in 2022 which mirrored a decline in apparel and textile sales around the world as households battled the reduced income because of high inflation.
The KNBS data showed the 40 garment and apparel firms operating under the Agoa framework at the Athi River-based Export Processing Zones raised capital investments last year by 21.1 percent to Sh38.27 billion.
Increased investment boosted earnings from exports by 19.20 percent to Sh60.57 billion, the highest growth since 2018 when the sales jumped 25.80 percent to nearly Sh41.58 billion.
The rebound in performance for the Agoa-approved companies came in a year when uncertainty over renewal of the trade pact started rising.
The Agoa treaty, initiated under the Bill Clinton administration in 2000 to integrate sub-Saharan Africa into the global economy and wean it off donations, was initially intended to last for 15 years from 2000 before being extended for a further 10 years in June 2015.
The renewal of the Agoa pact will need approval of the US Congress, controlled by protectionist President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.
Mr Trump’s insistence on a reciprocal tariff policy in trade negotiations has raised anxiety amongst beneficiaries of the tax- and quota-free Agoa pact over its renewal upon expiry in September.
President William Ruto in December sought to allay fears amongst Kenyan firms on renewal of the two-a-half-decade trade deal, but gave no indications on whether the tariff structure will likely change under Mr Trump.
“I know many of you are wondering whether Agoa is going to be renewed. Let me confirm to you that it will. I have it on the authority of many of my friends in that country and I believe that the new administration is also going to support our Agoa plan,” Dr Ruto said on December 10.
Kenya is amongst the major beneficiaries of the expiring preferential trade scheme which provides access for about 1,800 different categories of products from 32 African countries.
Kenya ranked fifth in utilisation rates for Agoa behind Zambia, Lesotho, DRC and Benin in 2021, according to the latest analysis on the Agoa programme by the US International Trade Commission (USITC).
Kenya has largely tapped the apparel and garment products lines under Agoa, in addition to small-scale exports of macadamia nuts.
