AMR team develops strategy for Zambian government to export commodities to U.S. duty-free

Luiza, May, Michael and Robert (Honorary Consul for Zambia in California) meeting with the Zambia Development Agency.

By Michael Joseph Kellagher ('16), Li-Yu Kuo ('16), Jiamei Lim ('16), Kelly Lynn Topp ('16), Luiza Martins Weaver ('16) 

A team from UCLA Anderson is working with the Republic of Zambia to develop a national strategy to take advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). AGOA is a U.S. trade act that allows eligible Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries to export a list of products, duty-free, into the U.S. For the scope of the Applied Management Research (AMR) project, the team developed a commercial viability assessment framework to help the Zambian government prioritize AGOA-eligible products, demonstrate the framework’s application on some commodities, including peanuts, cassava, copper and gemstones, and create educational literature directed at Zambian businesses and potential U.S. customers for distribution.

Several Zambian government agencies are key stakeholders for the project, and the team traveled to Lusaka in December to collaborate with the agencies and develop actionable recommendations. The discussions were instrumental in establishing relationships and helping the team understand the strategic role that each agency would play in an AGOA governance committee. To gain private sector perspective as well, the team traveled to Zambia to meet with representatives of various organizations, including financial institutions and industry associations, and even visited the Kagem emerald mine to obtain a better sense of the Zambian business environment. From the interactions and observations, the team was able to better assess the export viability of the products in scope and share its findings with the Zambian government.

Comments

[Sherly Amanda]

Thank You