What's Happening Now and What's Next: The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)

Ambassador Froman and African officials hear
from an African businesswoman about diverse export
products including Shea butter and cassava flour.

Shea butter, clothing, and countless other African products that make their way to U.S. store shelves. American ingenuity building bridges - literally - across the African continent, with skills training for workers to boot. These are success stories of America's trade and investment relationship with Africa, all highlighted at the AGOA Forum in Addis Ababa.

After helping to open the 12th AGOA Forum and bringing a message from President Obama to the assembled government officials, private sector and civil society delegates today, Ambassador Froman formally launched a major review of AGOA, aimed at building on successes and addressing challenges with the U.S. preference program that allows substantially all goods from 39 African countries to enter the U.S. market duty-free.

Dig into Reading with Storytelling

Children participating at the fourth Summer Reading Program organized by the Abuja American Corner and the U.S. Embassy got a special treat.  This was when Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA)/Funtime Prize winner for Children’s Literature, Spencer Okoroafor, engaged them in a storytelling session. The summer reading program is an annual program aimed at encouraging reading culture amongst Nigerian children. Several different activities including: a spelling bee, poetry and arts and craft, have been infused into this year's reading program themed "Dig into Reading".

Volunteering in the month of devotion

Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the most important pillars of Islam.  It is a time for thoughtful reflection and total devotion to God.  During this month, more than 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world abstain from especially food and drink among other things for 29 or 30 days, from dawn to dusk.  At the end of each day they gather together with friends and family to break their fast which is known as Iftar.  The Iftar provides nourishment in preparation for the next day of fasting.

A Whole New World

Every year, hundreds of Nigerians travel to the United States in pursuit of higher education. Many of these students are young and travelling to the U.S. for the first time.  They will live and study in a completely different environment for between two to four years.  One of the first challenges that will confront them is culture shock.  From the weather, to the food, to the different accents, they will have a lot of adjustments to make.

Jazz: Born in America, enjoyed worldwide

The title could refer not only to jazz music but several other things as well.  However we are talking about music today.  Apart from Jazz, America has also given the world blues, hip hop and R&B.  These types of music have a huge following around the world especially among young people.  However most people outside America have only listened to or watched performances of this music on television or radio.  This is where the State Department’s “Jazz Envoy” program comes in.  It takes American musicians to different parts of the world to perform before audiences who would normally not enjoy such or would have to pay a lot to do so.