Trade's Individual Impact
Immaculate Agwang works as a tailor at the Phenix Factory on the outskirts of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. She feels lucky that she has a job with good pay and decent working conditions. She earns $60 a month-which is a lot of money in a country where average yearly income is just $245. Immaculate has been working at Phenix for three years.

Immaculate feels that she is gaining valuable training at the factory. Her dream is to someday open her own workshop.

Immaculate is one of 260 workers at the Phenix Factory, which produces high-quality, organic cotton apparel. Phenix is unique in Africa, in that it recently started production of t-shirts that are produced entirely in Uganda - from growing and milling the cotton to producing the clothing.

Phenix Factory has been able to grow and employ more workers in part thanks to a U.S. program called the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The U.S. Congress created AGOA in 2000 to grant African companies greater access to U.S. markets in certain sectors. AGOA allows 37 African countries to export many goods to the U.S. duty-free and quota-free, which helps them compete better in the global market place. The apparel industry has significantly benefited from AGOA with African apparel exports increasing more than 100% since 2000.

AGOA directly impacts the lives of workers like Immaculate and their families and communities.