A RESOURCE GUIDE TO AFRICA

The resources listed below may all be accessed through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) web site www.agoa.gov

Market Research:

Country Commercial Guides – www.usatrade.gov
Trade Information Center – http://tradeinfo.doc.gov

Trade Leads:

The following websites are just a few of the resources African businesses can use to either search or post information on the products or services they wish to sell. Unless otherwise noted, the services provided by these websites are free.

African Trade Leads — www.mbendi.co.za

American Shine Star Corp. — www.shinestar.com

BidMix.com — www.bidmix.com

BigEx.com — www.bigex.com

BuySellEx.com — www.buysellex.com

Buyer’s Guide — www.buyersguide.com

Come to Trade — www.cometotrade.com

Export Chamber — www.exportchamber.com

Export All — www.exportall.com

Export Leads — www.export—leads.com/expleads.html — A subscription to trade leads service costs $135 per year outside of the U.S., $95 per year within the US

Federation of International Trade Associations — www.fita.org — A guide to U.S. trade associations, also has a trade lead section

Food Trader Exchange — www.tfte.com — Trade leads specific to the food industry

Foreign Trade Online — www.foreign—trade.com

Import—Export Bulletin Board — www.iebb.com — This website provides a broad range of information on various trade services. Companies wanting to post trade leads are connected to the Trade Compass website to connect with other buyers and sellers. (See listing for Trade Compass below)

Import Leads/Export Leads — www.importleads.com

Intermeding — www.intermeding.com

International Business Forum — www.ibf.com

List Boards — www.listboards.com

Meetbuyer.com — www.meetbuyer.com

Mpost.com — www.mpost.com

Online Trade Leads — www.onlineleads.com

Owen’s Online — www.owens.com

Panagaea — www.pangaea.net — For a subscription fee of $25 for 3 months, members can post trade leads on Panagaea’s website.

Selectory — www.selectoryonline.com — A number of searchable databases are available on this website, organized by industry and/or state. Subscription costs $20 per month, or subscribers can buy access to one of the specialized databases for a yearly fee.

Swiss Info Import—Export Bulletin Board — www.swissinfo.net — Subscription for $50 per quarter, annual subscription for $149. Members can post leads and access a broad range of offers compiled from various different trade lead sources.

Trade Compass — www.tradecompass.com — Offers a variety of subscription memberships, including a free service that allows members to view and post trade leads.

The Trading Floor — www.tradingfloor.com — A monthly subscription fee of $49 gives members access to trade leads, international business information, the National Trade Data Bank, and a variety of other trade-related Resources.

Trade Port — www.tradeport.org — Trade leads focused on the state of California

Trade Submit — www.trade-submit.com

Trade Weekly — www.tradeweekly.com

TradeLeads.com —www.tradeleads.com — Similar to The Trading Floor, a $49 monthly fee gives members access to trade leads as well as Stat-USA

Trade Match — www.tradematch.com

Trade World — www.tradeworld.net — An Africa-specific source of trade leads, government tenders, and trade information that aims to connect African businesses with buyers and suppliers in other countries via the Internet.

Trade Winds — www.tradewinds.com — A subscription fee of $363 per year gives members access to trade leads and the ability to post information on the website’s Trade Bulletin Board.

Trade Zone — www.tradezone.com

United Nations Trade Promotion Development Center — www.untpdc.org — This website offers access to a variety of buyer and seller lists through its Electronic Trading Opportunity (ETO) section.

Wade World Trade Cyber Center — www.cybertradecenter.com — Available for a subscription fee of $142 per year

World Access Net Directory — www.wand.com — Offers trade leads and trade information in 16 languages.

World Trade Markets — www.wtm.com — Updates the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s Trade Point Trade Leads daily

WorldBid.com — www.worldbid.com

Worldwide Business Club — www.wbc.com — Visitors to this site can browse trade leads for free; there is a minimal charge to post a trade lead.

Matchmaker Programs


Corporate Council on Africa — www.africacncl.org — The Corporate Council on Africa organizes two business linkage programs, the South Africa Business Linkage program and the West Africa Business Linkage program. These programs help match African and American companies in a variety of industry sectors. For more information, see the CCA website and click on International Business Linkages.

U.S. Global Technology Network — www.usgtn.org — This website provides free trade leads and provides matchmaking services that connect foreign and U.S. businesses according to industry sector and region.

Uniworld Business Publications — www.uniworldbp.org — Publishes directories of U.S. firms operating in foreign countries and directories of foreign firms operating in the U.S.

World Trade Center Network — www.wtca.org — Use this website to locate World Trade Center facilities worldwide in order to find the center closest to you. World Trade Centers can provide matchmaking services and lists of trade leads. A subscription to access trade leads services via the website is free to WTC members, others can register as a guest to view trade opportunities and pay $19.95 per month to post leads through the WTC network

Sources for Trade Assistance

Office of Textiles and Apparel —http://otexa.ita.doc.gov

Corporate Council on Africa www.africacncl.org

A Guide to Doing Business with Africa – www.businessbookusa.com

Foundation for Democracy in Africa — http://democracy-africa.org

Guide to the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences www.ustr.gov/reports/gsp/index.html

National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America – www.ncbfaa.org

U.S. Animal & Plant Inspection Service – www.fsis.usda.gov

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – www.fws.gov

U.S. Food & Drug Administration – www.fda.gov

U.S. Food Safety & Inspection Service — www.fsis.usda.gov

U.S. Import Regulations —www.customs.gov/imp-exp1/comply/sg78atoc.htm (U.S. Customs Publication on How to Export to the United States)

U.S. Tariff and Import Data by Product – http://dataweb.usitc.gov

U.S. Department of State Bureau of African Affairs –www.state.gov/p/af/

U.S. Export—Import Bank — www.exim.gov

U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation — www.opic.gov

U.S. Global Technology Network — Business Linkages for U.S. and African firms – www.usgtn.org

Reports

2001 Comprehensive Report of the President on U.S. Trade and Investment Policy Toward sub-Saharan Africa
and Implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (pdf) www.ustr.gov/reports/index.shtml