Women’s Intra-Regional Trade: A Driver of Job Creation and Economic Growth

At the margins of the 11th African Regional Forum for Sustainable Development (ARFSD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) convened a side event in collaboration with the International Trade Center (ITC), the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), Center for Accelerated Women’s Economic Empowerment (CAWEE), and Borderless Alliance. Bringing together 85 participants and 11 panelists, this webinar aimed to spotlight the evidence-based strategies and scalable solutions that can unlock women’s full participation in intra-regional trade and support the realization of both the 2030 Agenda and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

The forum was moderated by Ms. Bethel Terefe, Senior Gender Expert at the FAO Africa Region office. In her introduction she mentioned that across Africa, women play a vital role in agricultural trade, making up 70% to 80% of informal traders and contribute up to 40% of trade in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, they face persistent barriers including limited access to finance, regulatory information, mobility, and the risk of gender-based violence, harassment and exploitation at border crossing points. Addressing these barriers holds a significant potential for fostering inclusive growth and the achievement of sustainable development goals, particularly the commitment not to leave no one behind. Recognizing this opportunity, the webinar “Women’s Intra-Regional Trade as a Driver of Job Creation and Economic Growth – Untapped Potential and Successful Solutions to Advancing the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063", focused on exploring evidence-based solutions and lessons learned on addressing the barriers that women face to participate in regional trade.

Empowering Women through Access to Information and Capacity Building

Many women-led MSMEs across the continent operate in a landscape of limited access to information, finance, skills training, and market opportunities. The panelists agreed that addressing these gaps is a foundational step toward inclusive trade.

Francesca Distefano, Gender and Policy Expert at FAO, emphasized that women’s heavy involvement in agricultural trade is often confined to the high-risk, low-profit segments of value chains. Without tailored support, women entrepreneurs remain on the margins of export opportunities. FAO, in collaboration with ITC, is addressing these constraints through the program ‘Empowering Women in Agricultural Trade: leveraging the AfCFTA’ (EWAT), offering export readiness and financial literacy trainings, business mentoring, and the co-creation of financial products customized to the needs of women-led medium, small and micro enterprises with financial institutions. These efforts aim to enhance investment readiness and strengthen women’s capacity to meet regional standards, such as those set by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Other panelists echoed the importance of skills development. Ms. Martha Belete from CAWEE spotlighted their capacity-building work, which includes soft skills training in areas like packaging and digital readiness. Likewise, Ms. Antoinette Quayson, Principal Export and Development officer at GEPA shared success stories from their Ghana Export School and Women Icons Program, both of which train and support women exporters in product certification, digital marketing, and international market entry. Moreover, Ms. Fatou Mbenga Jallow, Senior Advisor and Regional coordinator for SheTrades Hubs in West Africa at ITC emphasized the need for inclusive communication, especially the use of local languages and diverse media platforms to ensure that trade knowledge reaches even the most marginalized communities. Dr. Mariame Maiga, Regional Gender Advisor at CORAF, noted the importance sensitizing interprofessional trade associations to adopt inclusive practices in their activities and governance systems. She also highlighted the importance of targeted financial facilities for women-led MSMEs to improve access to affordable financing. She explained that the Food Systems Resilience Program (FSAP) in West Africa implemented by CORAF in partnership with ECOWAS and others has employed both approaches to support women’s participation in regional trade.

Driving Change through Policy Advocacy

The panel underscored that systemic change requires more than training, but also institutional engagement and sustained advocacy.

Dr. Maty Ba Diao, the Regional Coordinator for Food System Resilience Program at ECOWAS, opened the session with a powerful message, "Advancing women's intra-regional trade is not only a matter of economic necessity, but also a moral imperative." This sentiment underpinned ECOWAS’s recent efforts to embed gender into regional trade policy through the creation of a sub-committee for women in trade as highlighted by Mr. Justin Baya Bayili, Principal Trade Advisor at the ECOWAS commission. He said a new 2030 work plan is also underway in the commission to enhance women’s participation and reduce gender gaps across regional trade ecosystems.

Private sector voices also called for greater involvement in policy cycles. Mr. Ziad Hamoui, National President of Borderless Alliance in Ghana, argued that policy engagement must be long-term and inclusive. Advocacy, he said, is “a marathon,” and meaningful impact comes from building coalitions that bring women traders and “policy takers” into the fold early, which helps to identify shared priorities and shape the design, implementation, and review of trade policies.

A concrete example came from the Gambia, where Ms. Fatou explained how ITC’s SheTrades Hub supported local women’s business groups and chambers of commerce to advocate for gender-responsive public procurement. Their efforts led to a draft policy and improved gender data collection by the procurement authority, which showcased how grassroots advocacy can influence national policy frameworks.

Creating Value and Enabling Formalization

A recurring question in the dialogue was whether women’s informal businesses should be formalized or whether the priority should be increasing the value of what they already do. Francesca Distefano offered a compelling dual approach: upgrading the value of their businesses while creating viable pathways for formalization. “We must build value and enable formalization—starting where women are, not where systems expect them to be,” she said. Strengthening business viability through access to finance, market linkages, and tailored policies can make formalization a natural and beneficial next step.

Gender-sensitive Infrastructure and Services at Border Crossing Points

Trade cannot thrive without enabling infrastructure. Yet, women traders frequently encounter unsafe, under-resourced, and gender-insensitive border environments. From poor facilities to harassment, these issues discourage cross-border activity and limit the scope of women’s enterprise.

Mr. Ziad highlighted innovative solutions like the establishment of Border Information Centers to provide women with accessible, on-the-ground guidance. Ms. Fatou further emphasized the need for better governance at borders, including clear codes of conduct, training for border officials, and public awareness of women's rights. She also noted, harassment—including sexual harassment—is still a major barrier for women traders and must be addressed as part of any gender-responsive trade reform.

Finally, the side event emphasized the need for collaborative efforts between national governments, regional economic commissions, international development partners, private sector and civil society organizations, so that Africa can harness the power of intra-regional trade to generate employment opportunities and help lift people out of poverty.