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Includes bibliographical references / The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a unilateral trade policy concession governing United States - Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) trade and investment relations. AGOA provides United States market access for 40 SSA countries, including South Africa. This piece of legislation has the fundamental objective of facilitating the global integration of SSA countries into the world economy by extending preferential access to the United States market for exporters from eligible countries. Over the past decade, AGOA has emerged as a topical issue as scholars and policy makers sought to understand its impact on SSA, especially South Africa. This has been awarded more impetus given its pending expiration in 2015. This, naturally, raised questions about the performance of United States preference programs (such as AGOA) as part of a larger ongoing debate on the form that United States preference programs may take in the foreseeable future. With South Africa facing a serious opposition to inclusion in the next shape of AGOA given the number of trade agreements South Africa has signed with countries that are competitors to United States in certain product categories. This study will seek to highlight the importance of the AGOA dispensation to South Africa, and through that analysis make a case for the continued inclusion of South Africa in the future trade dispensations that may develop. This study focuses on two research objectives; firstly, the study seeks to assess the extent to which increased preferential access to the United States market has translated into a real and tangible increase in exports from South Africa to the United States. Secondly, the study seeks to identify the areas where South Africa and the United States have high trade potential, and help make a case for inclusion of these high potential trade products in the next iteration of the AGOA dispensation. In achieving the first research objective, the study carried out a detailed trade statistics analysis with the hope of gaining greater understanding of the extent to which AGOA has influenced trade patterns between the United States and South Africa. South Africa's trade figures show that the United States is an important trade partner. A key conclusion that can be drawn from the analysis is the observation that a fair amount of growth in South Africa's exports to the United States is fundamentally characterized by two key aspects namely; growth in specific commodities and an export base that is becoming gradually concentrated over time. This implies that trade between South Africa and the United States is shifting towards a new focus in line with AGOA incentives and by extension one may conclude that South African firms are utilizing the market opportunities and the networks that enable them to effectively exploit the United States market. In fulfilling the second research objective, the detailed trade potential analysis that is propped up by a robust analysis of trade trends was carried out. The trade potential analysis identified thirteen commodity groups as having high potential for further exports into the United States market, and Pearls, precious stones and metals were identified as having the highest indicative trade potential, although the picture changes as the data is further disaggregated. This suggests that there is enormous potential and a great scope for export of pearls, precious stones and metals to the United States.

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Exporting is a popular mode of internationalisation for a variety of reasons. For instance, many enterprises prefer exporting because it permits them to learn from competition with minimum resources committed by the enterprise. However, it is noted in literature that enterprises face various constraints when exporting. Earlier studies, mostly conducted in developed countries, have documented several exporting constraints. The studies do not agree on the grouping of factors constraining exporting and elements that form such groupings. Also, it is acknowledged in literature that generalising findings from developed countries to developing countries would not necessarily be appropriate, hence studies in developing countries such as Lesotho are necessary and, to the researcher’s knowledge, this study is the first to be conducted in Lesotho. This formal study, therefore, was carried out to test the hypotheses developed from literature regarding factors that constrain exporting. Lesotho is land locked, being completely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is believed that Lesotho’s setting can bring insights into exporting as the country becomes a popular destination for export-oriented investors. Although enterprises operating in Lesotho had been exporting prior to 2000, there was a major boost of exports at the beginning of 2000 when Lesotho became eligible for exports to the United States, Canada and European markets under the agreement in the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA). The AGOA agreement brought a flow of Asian export-oriented investors into Lesotho. Lesotho’s exports are concentrated in the apparel and textile industries and are destined to a few countries, predominantly South Africa and the United States. The literature review covers the globalisation of the business environment. Further, the international entry modes are discussed along with the theories that explain the decision of the enterprises to initiate the internationalisation process. Finally, the exporting mode of internationalisation is discussed detailing the constraints that enterprises face when engaging in exporting. A questionnaire was used to collect data. The instrument first underwent a rigorous evaluation by experts who are knowledgeable about the subject. The experts proposed changes that were adopted prior to conducting a pilot study. A judgemental sampling approach was used where manufacturing enterprises located in seven of ten industrial areas in Lesotho, who agreed to participate in the study, were issued one questionnaire each. The questionnaires were distributed to key informants who were regarded as managers directly responsible for international operations. Alternatively, chief executive officers were approached in situations where enterprises did not employ international operation’s managers. A response rate of 94.7 percent was obtained. The study revealed that exporting constraints are internal to the enterprises and that three factors, as opposed to the five that were hypothesised, constrain exporting. The study further revealed that perceived exporting constraints varied according to the size of the enterprise as well as the ownership structure thereof. Recommendations were made relating to actions aimed at minimizing exporting constraints. Lastly, future areas of research were identified. The study will be beneficial to enterprises as they will be able to adopt suitable measures to overcome or reduce the impact of exporting constraints. Also, the study will inform policy makers in Lesotho with regards to areas where appropriate assistance should be provided. In addition, the study would inform business educators regarding areas of training for exporters, which will address the training needs of exporters. Lastly, researchers interested in exporting will find other avenues that can be researched in order to build the field of exporting. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / am2013 / Business Management / unrestricted

La mise en place de l'AGOA en mai 2000 a mis une fois de plus en exergue la vieille querelle de la problématique de l'impact d'un accord commercial sur la croissance économique des pays bénéficiaires. Toutefois, l'étude des textes constitutifs de l'AGOA nous a montré que cette loi, en tant que nouvel instrument de coopération économique des USA en direction des pays d'Afrique sub-saharienne, balaye un champ beaucoup plus large que celui d'un accord commercial. Pour cela, il nous est apparu opportun que l'étude de l'impact de l'AGOA aille au delà de la simple évaluation de l'impact de cette loi sur les échanges commerciaux. Notre étude a donc intégré l'impact de l'AGOA sur la dynamique de spécialisation, sur la dynamique de politiques économiques et sur la croissance économique des pays éligibles. Nos résultats nous ont montré que la mise en place de l'AGOA a eu un effet positif sur les exportations des pays éligibles. Mais cet effet est apparu plus élevé sur l'augmentation des exportations des produits non traditionnels. Au niveau des instruments de politiques économiques, il est apparu que l'AGOA a eu un effet positif et significatif sur les dépenses publiques et le taux de change réel. En revanche, cet effet est apparu non significatif sur l'ouverture commerciale et sur l'inflation. L'AGOA a également eu un effet positif et significatif sur la croissance de la productivité apparente du travail et sur les investissements directs étrangers (IDE). Mais l'effet de l'AGOA sur les IDE est apparu plus élevé pour les pays producteurs de pétrole. Enfin, nos résultats nous ont montré que la mise en place de l'AGOA n'a pas eu d''influence significative sur la croissance du PIB par habitant des pays éligibles, mais cet effet est variant selon les régions. Grâce à une analyse critique de cette loi, nous avons démontré que pour améliorer l'efficacité de l''AGOA, il faut que cette loi soit plus dynamique, qu''elle réduise ostensiblement l'effet de la taxation progressive et qu''elle mette fin à l''incertitude de durée qui est inhérente à la révision annuelle de la liste des pays éligibles.