Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA: United Nations agencies have joined hands to empower small businesses, women and youth within African Continental Free Trade Area in East Africa.
The International Trade Centre, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women have announced collaboration with the East African Business Council to engage business support organizations in the region on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), according to a joint statement released Wednesday.
A workshop, held from September 20 to 22, 2022, the saw over 70 representatives from the region who learned about the AfCFTA and its implementation progress.
The workshop also provided business support organizations with a comprehensive toolkit to tailor their services to small businesses and drive business competitiveness under a new liberalized African market. Small businesses especially women and youth entrepreneurs will benefit once Africa’s institutions in the business ecosystem are strengthened to respond to their emerging needs and advocate for their interests.
Businesses from other regions attending the workshop had the opportunity to network with counterparts from East Africa and displaying their products at the event. Also in attendance were representatives from the AfCFTA Secretariat, the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development as well as the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
As the first collaboration between the three UN Agencies to engage regional and national stakeholders on the continental trade area, the Kampala workshop kicks off a series of joint trainings expected to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in taking advantage of the AfCFTA.
“Women and youth are Africa’s greatest resource. The COVID-19 pandemic cemented the benefits of regional integration including in the East Africa Community,” the statement quoted Ashish Shah, Director, Country of Programmes, International Trade Centre, as saying.
“The AfCFTA is the silver bullet into the future. One Trade Africa, ITC’s corporate program to promote regional integration on the continent, is steadfast to unlock 22 billion USD in intra-African export potential and empower small businesses, women and youth to access meaningful business opportunities under the AfCFTA,” Shah added.
Elsie Attafuah, Uganda Resident Representative, UNDP, also emphasized that women and youth engaged in cross-border trade continue to face challenges and obstacles that limit their competitiveness and make their businesses less productive.
“We need to understand the priorities of women and youth and equip them with knowledge, skills, and information. This is incredibly important to empower them to participate in intra-African trade,” Attafuah said.
Adekemi Ndieli, Deputy Country Representative, UN Women, on her part emphasized the need to demystify the legal and policy context for women and youth.
“Sub-Saharan Africa and particularly Uganda has the highest number of women entrepreneurs in the world. I call for more inclusive participation of women and youth in policy negotiations, ease of access to finance, uptake of information technology for women traders, and deliberate actions, such as capacity building for small businesses on international and regional trade requirements, as well as the empowerment of women-owned firms to invest in trade opportunities under the AfCFTA,” Ndieli said.
John Kalisa, Executive Director, East African Business Council, also emphasized the need to improve the calibre of East African businesses in preparation for greater competition brought about by the AfCFTA and boost productivity in the region.
“The AfCFTA will not work if we ignore the role of women and youth. Information asymmetry, enforcement of contracts, expensive capital, and foreign exchange losses are among the challenges facing women and youth engaged in cross-border trade in the EAC block and Africa,” Kalisa said.
