The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement offers leaders on the continent the unique opportunity to raise women’s voices in cross-border trade.This was the key message during a recent virtual conference organised by the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC), a unit of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and Business Unity South A f r ica (Busa).Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, said the Covid-19 pandemic had taken a toll as it had led to large-scale loss of employment, particularly felt by women and people living with disabilities in the small, medium- and micro-enterprise sector as well as in the informal sector – notably the informal cross-border trade sector where women comprised the majority of traders.“I believe this engagement is important and timely. We cannot underscore enough how significant the AfCFTA is for women in light of the current crisis imposed by the pandemic and in the post-Covid recovery process. The post-Covid recovery process offers the ideal opportunity to allow for a more gender-sensitive approach.”She highlighted that the AfCFTA created unique opportunities for women through increased access to new continental export markets and regional value chains. Busa CEO Cas Coovadia said the launch of the AfCFTA was a critical platform for participation of women in trade reg iona lly.“Economies in Africa need to be repositioned post Covid-19 in a way that is inclusive and equitable towards women, allowing for more women participation in the economy. Business as we know it is changing rapidly. We need to ensure that we are at the cutting edge of digitalisation on our continent. We need to ensure that women in trade, women in economics, and women in society play a critical role as we rebuild our economy on the continent to play its role in the global economy,” he said.Women constitute about 70% of all cross-border traders. As entrepreneurs they operate in micro and small enterprises, especially in the service sectors, wholesale and retail trade, hotel and restaurant subsectors, cleaning, hairdressing and washing services, opting for non-capital-intensive enterprise with lower profit margins.Women face several constraints in growing their businesses, including access to finance. The financing gap for women entrepreneurs in Africa is estimated at $43 billion.Access to export markets is another major challenge. Studies have shown that one in ten firms managed by women in Africa export directly or indirectly compared to one in every firm managed by men. Also, informal women traders face an array of other challenges – ranging from exposure to gender-based violence to lower profitability in the goods traded.Thokozile Ruzvidzo, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca) director: gender, poverty and social policy division, called for countries that had ratified the AfCFTA to develop tailor-made national AfCFTA strategies to effectively address these issues and improve the conditions and empowerment of cross-border traders.Economies in Africa need to be repositioned post Covid-19 in a way that is inclusive and equitable towards women– Cas Coovadia“
