Abubakar Aïssatou: My experience of AGOA Abgar Manager of the establishment in Douala, it exported art objects to the U.S. market.
She speaks with passion. From personal experience in exporting goods to different cities of the United States certainly, but more that of a member of the African Women Arts Association to which it belongs for nearly seven years, and it opened the doors of this project. To enter walk-in mechanism established by the U.S. government, all began at the Hilton Hotel in Yaounde. "We were invited to an international meeting concerned the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). At the end of this meeting, an American approached us and made us understand that what we set out that day was interesting under this project which aims to encourage African exports to the U.S.. We have established a contact, and since then we occasionally invited international fairs, "she says. Export without special technical experience and despite the importation of ready-to-wear from French and Asian market, so she embarked on this adventure. Soon she will realize that this much-vaunted market by the U.S. hides many institutional difficulties and even individuals. She recalls, for example, the problem of obtaining the visa. "We are not issuing the visa on presentation of a letter of invitation to an international fair," says elle.Problème course, but the visa is only the beginning of a great adventure. She explains that "the advantage we have is that for products to be exempted from customs duties at U.S. ports. But you pay the normal transport as the others and forwarders. Once on American soil, it must then be very careful. "Etoke John Edward, trainer of the Access program for support to women entrepreneurs, said during a recent seminar held at the headquarters in Douala GICAM: there are too many intermediaries between the women on the international market. Aïssatou Mrs. Abubakar has also learned the hard way. "We work primarily with intermediaries who are mostly Africans. There are many risks to working with them. They do not always give us the chance to reach buyers. Some, once they have sold their merchandise we have entrusted disappear, or give us false appointments, while playing on the validity of our visa which is very often three months. Personally, I lost a commodity worth nearly five million CFA francs because of such practices, "she says. Many women, she says, are victims of these and intermediate . Others by cons, reveals she saw their goods just fly up in smoke. "We are very careful about what we put into containers. Because U.S. law is very stingy on the nature and quality of certain products, "she says. In her experience, she said "If officials of the port would detect that a single bad smell in the container, they are capable of destroying it completely." After training on techniques for export on the international market it has received, the former college student King Akwa Douala can leave, better equipped, to artisans scattered in different parts of Cameroon, and even some countries in West Africa, including Nigeria and Benin. The conquest of the most sought after in the U.S. market: the art and bronze masks. And without giving exact figures, but showing that the purchasing power of the U.S. market, unlike the European market is not high, it recognizes, however, with large quantities of local products, AGOA remains a highly recommended experience.
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