By Doyinsola Oladipo

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Kenya’s President William Ruto said on Wednesday his country expects to sign a trade deal with the United States by year-end and that he will be pushing Washington to extend its duty-free agreement with Africa for at least five years.

Ruto will be meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later on Wednesday to discuss the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), he said in an interview on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The 25-year-old act grants qualifying African nations duty-free access to the U.S. market and is due to expire this month.

“I will be asking him for the U.S. to consider seriously renewing and extending AGOA for at least a minimum of five years, because it is a platform that connects

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