Agnes Opus sells cereals in Busia, the border town between Kenya and Uganda. This is her lifeline through which she caters for her immediate family's needs from school fees to housing and medical care and support to her extended family. While she dedicates all her energy and time to this work which she loves, she struggles to meet all her needs. She faces many non-tariff barriers including harassment by officials and unclear and ever-changing information on trade requirements.
Agnes' challenges are not unique to her. They represent the plight of millions of women across the continent engaged in cross-border trade. They have expectations that the Women and Youth in Trade Conference and the adoption of a Women and Youth protocol by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement , will make it easy for women to trade.
The AfCFTA holds great potential by creating the largest free trade area in the world by number of countries -55 - it connects, bringing together 1.3 billion people and a combined gross domestic product valued at US$3.4 trillion. The Women and Youth in Trade conference, hosted by H.E Samia Suluhu, the President of Tanzania, and the AfCTA secretariat aims at helping the AfCFTA work better for women and youth.
Despite this potential, women earn on average 34% lower profits than men. Structural barriers like the ones faced by Agnes hamper the growth of women-led or owned businesses. These barriers include discriminatory legal and customary frameworks and practices, gendered stereotypes, norms and biases, and an unequal distribution of unpaid care and domestic work.
Second, governments need to facilitate trade not only in sectors where women are the majority, but to also support women to enter sectors where they are underrepresented. Sectors such as manufacturing, construction, and IT technology are some of the fastest growing sub sectors in the continent, yet women remain underrepresented.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ramaphosa vows to improve investment environment for US companies after talks with Biden | News24There was agreement on the need to create a more attractive environment for American companies to invest in South Africa. | Lisaleesolomon1
Read more »
Kenya clarifies position on Sahrawi after gaffeKenya says it has not abandoned its policy to support the African Union’s call for free self-determination of the Sahrawi people.
Read more »
We have to bring our politics into the 21st century. Here’s howIn Africa politics are often seen as an older man’s game, despite the average age of people on the continent being 19, and women outnumbering men by about 1-million, writes LindiMazibuko.
Read more »