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United States businesses have been urged to explore greater possibilities for investing in Africa, which has become the second-fastest growing region in the world after Asia. �We think that Africa is the last economic global frontier. We are encouraging American companies to look at Africa as an investment and export destination, and we encouraging African countries not only to look at American products, but also to look at the American market as one that they can benefit from,� Ambassador Johnnie Carson, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said. According to the International Monetary Fund, Africa�s economies will power ahead of most parts of the world in 2012 with combined real GDP growth of 5.4 percent. �We think that Africa has enormous economic potential. Trade could be substantially better and larger. We hope that it will continue to grow,� Ambassador Carson said. He was speaking via teleconference to selected journalists in Africa on US policy on the continent. Africa is a significant provider of petroleum products to the United States, he said. Some 18 to 19 percent of the US�s petroleum requirements are sourced from Africa. Nigeria is the single largest African supplier, providing about 8 to 9 percent of the US�s needs. It is also the largest supplier of low-sulphur sweet crude to the United States. �We also import a large number of other minerals from Africa. We don�t import very many finished products from the continent, even though we have the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) legislation. AGOA has opened up the U.S. market to allow some 5,000 products to enter the U.S. from Africa duty-free,� Ambassador Carson said. Most of the products entering the US market under the AGOA legislation are textile products, leatherwear, footwear, and automobiles that are shipped from South Africa. The US government will work closely with West African countries to improve agriculture and ensure food security in the sub-region, he said.