THE READINESS REPORT: Redi Tlhabi talks AGOA with Wandile Sihlobo

After months of warnings that South Africa would be punished by the United States over its foreign policy, Washington has taken a different course. President Donald Trump has signed a short extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) through 31 December 2026, applied retroactively. In this episode, Redi Tlhabi and chief economist, author and a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Economic Advisory Council, Wandile Sihlobo talk about why South Africa remains in AGOA, what the limited extension signals about US trade policy, and why the outcome contrasts sharply with earlier predictions of exclusion.