Government rolls out special desks, funds to protect women cross-border traders

THE Government has started rolling out Women’s Desks at border posts and unlocking revolving funds to protect female traders from harassment and illegal fees, a senior official has said.

Speaking at a Public-Private Dialogue at the Victoria Falls-Livingstone border post, Women Affairs Permanent Secretary Dr Mavis Sibanda said the measures target non-tariff barriers that have long hampered small-scale agri-food trade in the COMESA region.

“The Ministry has been actively promoting formalisation of cross-border trade through awareness campaigns on the Simplified Trade Regime,” she said.

“Government has been working to establish and strengthen Women’s Desks at border posts to provide support, information, and protection to women traders.”

Dr Sibanda said financial inclusion programmes for women and youth entrepreneurs, including microfinance and savings schemes, are being rolled out alongside incubation centres for value addition.

However, she acknowledged that women traders still face complex customs procedures, inconsistent sanitary standards, limited trade information, and most alarmingly, informal fees and harassment at border points.

Women constitute 50 to 60 percent of the agricultural labour force and over 70 percent of informal cross-border traders in the region.

Dr Sibanda said cross-border trade costs in Sub-Saharan Africa are more than double those in East Asia.

While agri-food contributes up to 35 percent of GDP in most COMESA member states, intra-COMESA agricultural trade remains below optimal levels.

“Addressing non-tariff barriers is not merely a trade facilitation issue. It is a development imperative,” she said.

“It is about creating opportunities for women and youth, strengthening food security, and advancing regional integration.”

Key corridors targeted include Victoria Falls-Livingstone, Chirundu, Mchinji-Chipata, Mwanza and Dedza.