County opens African Trade Office

by Liza Gutierrez | Staff Writer

Federally backed program to help boost export opportunities for small businesses

Prince George’s County has received $400,000 in federal support for a new African Trade Office, whose goal is to help increase business between African companies and small domestic businesses seeking trade opportunities.

U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) of Baltimore, County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) and other county leaders announced the new office and funding Tuesday at the county administration building in Upper Marlboro.

The center will initially be in the county’s Economic Development Corp. office in Largo, ‘‘then we’ll be building a site for it later,” said Kwasi G. Holman, president and CEO of the group. That site will be in the county’s foreign trade zone at Steeplechase 95 International Business Park, a 110-acre mixed-use development in Capitol Heights.

‘‘It will be a one-stop shop for international trade relating to the continent,” Holman said. His group is excited to lead the region in bilateral trade to Africa, ‘‘especially as it will benefit Prince George’s County companies substantially, because we’re offering specialized training for doing business in Africa.”

‘‘We think it’s just the right continent at the right time,” Holman said. The county has relationships with several African countries, and has invested substantially in The Gambia and Senegal, both in West Africa, he said.

Emphasis for trade opportunities is particularly placed on minority-owned companies in Prince George’s County and in African nations including Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Cameroon, Namibia, South Africa and Ethiopia, Johnson said. ‘‘Today’s business is truly global, and we’re poised to reach beyond the United States border to create opportunity for our citizens,” he said.

A sister-to-sister port agreement has been signed, including the Port of Baltimore and ports in Gambia and Ghana, to allow direct shipments, Johnson said. This is significant because shipments from Baltimore will no longer have to go to Europe before heading to Africa, he explained.

The trade office will build on opportunities presented since the African Growth and Opportunity Act was enacted in 2000. It provides reforming African nations with liberal access to the U.S market without a free trade agreement, according to a county statement.

U.S. exports to Sub-Saharan Africa in 2006 amounted to $12.1 billion, and imports were $59.2 billion, according to a 2007 trade profile from the International Trade Administration. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for slightly more than 1 percent of U.S. merchandise exports, and slightly more than 3 percent of U.S. merchandise imports — of which about 80 percent are petroleum products.

The United States is Africa’s largest single-nation market, purchasing nearly 30 percent of the region’s exports in 2005, according to the report. China was second at about 11 percent, and the United Kingdom was third at about 7 percent. The European Union purchased about 34 percent of the region’s exports.

The new trade office will be the first of its kind operating in Prince George’s.

‘‘I am convinced that this office will not only be a success, it’s going to be a national model,” Cardin said.