Submitted by Alaffia
Olowo-n’djo Tchala, founder and CEO of Alaffia, has been appointed by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to serve a four-year term as a member of the Trade Advisory Committee on Africa (TACA). The committee provides general policy advice and guidance to the U.S. Trade Representative on trade policy and development matters that have a significant impact on the countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
The TACA also facilitates the goals and objectives of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and assists in maintaining ongoing discussions with sub-Saharan Africa trade and agriculture ministries and private-sector organizations on issues of mutual concern. TACA was authorized by the Trade Act of 1974.
The committee is currently composed of 22 members who have expertise in general trade, investment, and development issues and specific knowledge of U.S.-Africa trade. Members of the committee represent industry, organized labor, investment, agriculture, services, non-profit development organizations, academia, and small business.
Tchala hosted Ambassador Lighthizer at Alaffia’s cultural center in Lomé, Togo last August during the AGOA conference in Togo. U.S. Ambassador to Togo David Gilmour and Acting Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Donald Yamamoto, who leads the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, also visited Alaffia’s headquarters located in Tumwater, Washington in April, 2017 and March, 2018, respectively.
“It is an honor to serve alongside other TACA members to help thoughtfully guide U.S. trade policy related to sub-Saharan Africa,” said Tchala. “Trade between the U.S. and Africa is vital to helping people on both continents rise up out of poverty through fair private enterprise, something we work on every day at Alaffia.”
Alaffia was founded in 2003 in the Olympia, Washington garage of husband and wife team, Olowo-n’djo Tchala and Prairie Rose Hyde. The fair-trade beauty and body care products company employs 145 at its 100,000 sq. ft. Tumwater, Washington headquarters and more than 14,000 as employees and contractors in fair-trade cooperatives in West Africa. Alaffia’s non-profit empowerment initiatives have resulted in 59,775 trees planted, 34,640 school supply recipients, 8,253 bikes distributed, 25,588 eyeglasses donated, 12 schools constructed and more than 4,800 babies safely delivered in West Africa.
