In December 2006, the ECA Hub's AGOA Advisor, Finn Holm-Olsen, traveled to Rwanda, to assist the Government of Rwanda in the process of understanding and attaining AGOA Category 9 certification.

He held a roundtable discussion at the office of the Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion Agency (RIEPA), which was attended by members of the Ministry of Commerce, the Rwanda Privates Sector Federation (RPSF), and exporting companies. The workshop outlined the parameters and benefits of Category 9. As a result of the visit, a way forward was established, namely the formation of a Category 9 Steering Committee, which was tasked with identifying those products to be covered under Rwanda's Category 9 submission and collecting samples.

AGOA Category 9 is a special product classification under apparel which includes: handloomed articles, handmade of handloomed articles, folklore articles and ethnic printed fabrics. The Category 9 qualification process includes a formal request by the Government of Rwanda to the U.S. Government, the submission of samples, a U.S. Government review, government to government consultations, and then ultimately, certification.

Once certified, Rwanda will be eligible to export the products covered duty-free to the United States under AGOA. Currently, only three countries in the region are AGOA Category 9 certified: Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

AGOA Advisor also visited two handicrafts centers in Rwamagana and Gitarama, both of which have benefited from ECA Hub support. In Gitarama, the AGOA Advisor addressed a group of approximately 200 women, basket weavers and genocide survivors, who were busy working on the latest order from Macy's in New York. The AGOA Advisor told the women that they are an inspiration to many people in the United States, that their craftsmanship is highly appreciated, and that there is strong demand for the products they make. He also and encouraged them to keep up their exceptional work.