[4] The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was the idea of Congressman Jim McDermott (a former Foreign Service medical officer based in Zaire), and his Chief of Staff, Michael Williams.

[8] Later Rosa Whitaker, who served as the first ever Assistant U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for Africa in the administrations of Presidents William J. Clinton and George W. Bush, helped develop and implement the law.

Passage of the legislation followed nearly a decade of leadership on the part of activists such as Paul Speck at Environmental and Energy Institute, Witney Schneidman, Steve Lande, Mel Foote, Tony Carroll, Claude Fontheim, and Mark Neuman, and others.

In part, this is due to a changing trade environment with respect to Africa; for example, intracontinental and intercontinental economic integration have increased significantly.

Similarly, following the conclusion of economic partnership agreements between the European Union and African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries, trade ties are shifting from unilateral preferences to reciprocal relations.

In order for African producers and manufacturers to become more fully integrated into supply chain networks, it may be beneficial to consider restructuring U.S.–Africa economic relations outside of the AGOA.

[10] In November 2023, President Joe Biden urged for the removal of Gabon, Uganda, Niger, and the Central African Republic from AGOA, citing human rights violations.

[13][14] On January 1, 2022, the United States removed Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from the AGOA programme over alleged human rights violations and recent coups.

While Nigeria and Angola are the largest exporters under AGOA, other countries, particularly South Africa's have been more diverse and unlike the former are not mainly concentrated in the energy sector.

Agricultural products are a promising area for AGOA trade; however much work needs to be done to assist African countries in meeting U.S. sanitary and phytosanitary standards.

As of 2018[update] the forum has been held four times in Washington, and once each in Mauritius, Senegal, Ghana, Kenya (2009), Zambia (2011), Ethiopia (2013), Gabon (2015) and Togo (2017).

[citation needed] Cameroonian scholar Tatah Mentan has criticized AGOA, arguing that while the legislation "sounds like a benevolent multilateral trade agreement", it is actually a neo-colonial scheme to further exploit African resources.