South Africa and Rwanda booted from US duty-free trade program

South Africa and Rwanda are out of AGOA. Both countries have been excluded from the U.S. trade program, stripping them of duty-free access to the American market, according to France 24. For South Africa, the exit comes with a warning attached: job losses are coming.

AGOA — the African Growth and Opportunity Act — has been the main gateway for eligible African goods into the United States without duties at the border. Once a country is dropped from the list, that duty-free edge is gone. France 24 reported the exclusion in its nightly edition.

How many jobs are on the line isn't spelled out. The report says only that South Africa is bracing for some losses, with no figures attached. Rwanda gets the same treatment: no more duty-free run into the U.S. market.

The AGOA shake-up wasn't the only story in the same broadcast. France 24 also reported that South Africans are heading to the polls amid water shortages and frustration with local services.

And in Kolwezi, the Democratic Republic of Congo's mining capital, residents are taking on one of the country's largest Chinese-owned mines, accusing it of poisoning their environment, according to France 24.

For now, the duty-free era is over for both South Africa and Rwanda, and the cost will be counted in jobs.