USAID Southern Africa Trade and Investment Hub Quarterly Progress Report FY2021 Q3

It supports these objectives by increasing exports from Southern African countries to South Africa and the United States (under the African Growth and Opportunity Act [AGOA]), boosting capital and technology flows from South Africa to other Southern African countries, and providing targeted trade facilitation support to Zambia. The USAID TradeHub works with market actors to identify and resolve enterprise constraints and implements sustainable solutions through market-based trade and investment facilitation services. The USAID TradeHub partners with the USAID Bilateral Missions through the USAID Southern Africa Regional Mission in the successful delivery of its objectives. In the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, the USAID TradeHub exceeded its targets for both agricultural and non-agricultural exports, totaling $38,889,428.64 against a target of $7.7 million. On the investment front, the program facilitated 80 finance and investment deals with an estimated financing need of $221 million, which progressed through to preparation of investment memoranda to be used to introduce the export firms' financing needs to capital providers for funding in the fourth quarter. The USAID TradeHub has achieved significant results in its first four years of operation, delivering $37.9 million in exports against a target of $18.5 million, and $24 million in investments against a target of $14 million. The program has also made progress in improving Zambia's trade-enabling environment as part of a buy-in from the USAID Mission in Zambia. The USAID TradeHub has a funding ceiling of $73.7 million and operates in six countries: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, and Mozambique. The program has office locations in Pretoria, South Africa; Lusaka, Zambia; Lilongwe, Malawi; and Maputo, Mozambique. The geography of the program includes eight countries, with Angola and Zambia being eligible but not yet active countries. The USAID TradeHub has narrowed its activities to achieve three objectives: increased exports to South Africa from targeted Southern African countries, increased investment of capital and technology out of South Africa to targeted Southern African countries, and sustainable utilization of AGOA opportunities by targeted Southern African countries. The program has made significant progress in achieving these objectives, with exports exceeding targets in the first and second quarters of fiscal year 2021 and investments progressing through to preparation of investment memoranda in the third quarter.