By Dada Ahmed
Addis Ababa,
Inadequate finance and information have been identified as among the leading non-tariff barriers (NTBs) facing African businesswomen and might undermine the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
This was the submission of an advocate for businesswomen on the continent, Ms Yavi Madurai, during a webinar on the Trade Easier platform, a mechanism for reporting, monitoring and eliminating NTBs under AfCFTA in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Wednesday.
Madurai,who is the Executive Director of the Pan African Business Women’s Association (PABWA), noted that gender inequality, corruption, and lack of trust between women and border officials were among other barriers.
“Access to finance is the biggest challenge to women in business in Africa,” she said.
Ruramiso Mashumba, a Zimbabwean businesswoman and farmer who aligned with Madurai, said African financial institutions had not been friendly in lending to small and micro-scale businesses.
This development, she added, made it difficult for them to raise funds for their operations.
Speaking on the trade easier mechanism, an African Union customs expert, Willie Shumba, said the platform would help to resolve NTBs that would surface as trading begins under AfCFTA, especially the long delays at land borders that disproportionately hurt majority female traders.
“But for the scheme to be effective, it must ensure speedy response to complaints of the traders, said Jacob Makambwe, Secretary-General of the Southern Africa Cross Border Traders Association.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), African countries can gain US$20 billion each year by tackling NTBs – much more than the $3.6 billion they can gain by eliminating tariffs.
Source:Communications Section,
Economic Commission for Africa
