President Barack Obama announced last week a decision to rescind the eligibility of three African countries -- Guinea, Madagascar and Niger -- for benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, based on poor performance in providing their people good governance.

The AGOA was an undertaking of the Clinton administration and signed into law in 2000. It was then accelerated by President George W. Bush in 2004, who extended its application until 2015. The intention is to help poor African countries by encouraging their exports to the United States through import quotas and the removal of U.S. import duties. It has helped the economies of its 38 eligible countries. Their exports to the United States include cut flowers, agricultural products, textiles, clothing and, in the case of South Africa, BMWs.

Guinea, Madagascar and Niger went astray by failing to meet AGOA's list of requirements, including maintaining a market-based economy, honoring the rule of law, fostering political pluralism, taking measures against corruption and observing labor rights.

Guinea was expelled basically because of a 2009 military coup d'etat, which led to a massacre in September in its capital, Conakry, that ended with 157 dead and rapes by soldiers. An assassination attempt against its self-declared leader, Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara, kept power in the hands of the Guinean military and was the last straw for Guinea's AGOA eligibility.

Madagascar, an island off the continent's southeastern coast, suffered a military coup in March. Its president, Andry Rajoelina, a former mayor of the capital, Antananarivo, is self-proclaimed and remains in power at the sufferance of the country's military.

The third country expelled from AGOA was Niger. Its president, Mamadou Tandja, is a former military officer who unilaterally extended his time in office to a third term, at variance with the constitution, putting Niger in the column of badly governed states.

AGOA is a noble U.S. effort to leverage aid to foster the development of good government and an export economy in African countries. Its approach sensibly involves diplomatic carrots and sticks. Guinea, Madagascar and Niger just felt the stick, as well they should have.

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