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Ruth Butaumocho African Agenda
For many years, the story of an African woman was characterised by hard work, cross-border trade with little profits and several failed attempts to establish herself as an entrepreneur of repute.
With no adequate funding to support the entrepreneurial activities, her efforts were often met with difficulties.
The few African women who were able to break the financial barriers struggled to penetrate regional markets, amid a coterie of challenges that included high transport costs, high tariffs and stringent export conditions.
It was for that reason that a sizable number of African women would often end up operating illegal businesses, turn to vending, selling all sorts of accessories that resulted in the eventual collapse of the business.
Aspiring and established female entrepreneurs now have every reason to celebrate following the formation and the subsequent launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
This grand platform now allows Africans to trade within its borders, explore existing opportunities, review challenges and be able to fine-tune its own trading platform without outside interference.
And true to the aspirations of the agreement, just like men, women will now be able to realise their potential in business by using the platform to trade across Africa, with little hassles.
Free movement of people and goods; a unitary tax regime that will ease the movement of goods and reduce the costs of trade as pertains to customs and import duties, is what millions of women across Africa have been praying for all these years.
And true to the aspirations of women, AfCFTA presents these opportunities and much more.
In the last two years, Africa has traded more with itself than it has in the five years before Covid-19.
That has been the case because the continent had to rely on itself, after most countries worldwide imposed strict Covid-19 regulations that resulted in the closure of borders, to curb and reduce new infections.
While many concluded that the closure of borders would disrupt flow of goods and further damage relations between continents, the closure actually allowed Africa to rediscover its potential and took the inward-looking route for sustenance and survival.
For the last two years, Africa has been its best. It is slowly becoming the Africa that pan Africanists like Kwame Nkurumah had always wished and dreamt of.
AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene recently said the platform was now up and running with most of the logistical issues, such as the rules of origin having been completed.
This, he said, will soon be followed by the gazetting of the AfCFTA legal instruments nationally so that the rules of origin can be applied.
Essentially, all what AfCFTA needs to start trading is already in place, a welcome development that women across the region would now need to utilise to grow their varying businesses.
Two clauses explicitly recognise the inclusion of women in the AfCFTA agreement and accompanying protocols.
Firstly, Clause (3(e)) looks to promote “gender equality and structural transformation” of the African states.
In addition Article 27 (2) (d) of the Protocol on Trade in Services, says State Parties are mandated to: “improve the export capacity of both formal and informal service suppliers, with particular attention to micro, small and medium size; women and youth service suppliers”.
These two clauses underscore the value of involving and representing the diverse economic needs of the various categories of women in society.
Already, experts are calling on women to grab opportunities that AfCFTA presents so that they can grow their businesses by accessing a larger market beyond borders.
The platform, if effectively used, can also assist in economic recovery.
“The 55 countries will create a large market for Zimbabwean products and women need to be aware of this great opportunity,” said Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) director-general Dr Eve Gadzikwa recently during the seventh edition of the online economic development and outlook post Covid-19 hosted by Global Renaissance Investment (GRI).
With reduced trade tariffs and transport costs, businesses that are owned by women, which are usually in the small to medium enterprise sector, should be able to thrive under the conditions presented to entrepreneurs’ through AfCFTA platform.
Women can manufacture goods, provide an array of services as well as facilitate trade between individuals as well as member countries.
The platform can become an information launch pad for women in different countries, where they can access training opportunities, symposiums on trade and get exposure on global trading opportunities outside Africa.
However, the platform on itself, will not work like a magic bullet, until Governments’ and other trading partners address a number of challenges that may affect women’s effective participation.
For women traders and entrepreneurs, including micro-entrepreneurs to benefit from expanded trade under the AfCFTA, governments would need to scale up existing trade-related technical assistance for women and youth-owned SMEs to help them improve their capacity to trade.
Historically, limited financial literacy, access to finance and business networks, and even constraints due to social norms, have been some of the challenges that women often faced.
This calls for robust engagements and Government involvement to capacitate women in their areas of deficiency, so that they able to participate.
With more than 40 countries participating, manufactured goods have to meet certain standards to be competitive and that is also one area that supporting partners would need to address to ensure that goods and services destined to the platform are of good quality.
The advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution also requires women to handle technical tasks such as operations and innovations so that they do not lose out when jobs and opportunities become limited.
The global era that we find ourselves in require women to be in sync with information communication technology so that they are able to conduct business using any platform.
Once these challenges have been addressed, lives of millions of people will certainly be set on a positive trajectory. AfCFTA is a platform that millions have been waiting for all these years, and that opportunity should not be wasted.
Its business portfolio and the potential it has, should be enough to set the continent on a positive economic trajectory.
The free trade area is the largest in the world, with 54 participating countries and access to a combined Gross Domestic Product of US$3,4 trillion.
Yet this makes up under one percent of business news and analysis about business in Africa in global and African media.
On its own AfCFTA, makes up one percent of news and academic research, yet the agreement is expected to lift 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty and boost the incomes of nearly 68 million others.
It is also projected to boost Africa’s income by US$450 billion by 2035 and increase Africa’s exports by US$560 billion, mostly in manufacturing.
In all these projects, women can actually get more once they are able to organise themselves and be part of this grand economic platform.
Online Reporter