BY GRACE MACHA IN ARUSHA
A capacity building initiative has been launched to support women traders against many hurdles at the East African borderline.
The exercise is spearheaded by the East African Women-in-Business Platform (EAWiBP) which feels the cross border trading environment in the region was not friendly to the women.
"They lack information and resources they need to navigate the complex trade rules and regulations", remarked Ms Janice Kimaro,EAWiBP regional coordinator.
She was speaking at the Namanga border town recently during one of the capacity building seminars for women entrepreneurs there.
The training seminars are aimed to empower them on how to trade under the East African Community (EAC) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocols.
About 60 women and youth small and medium entrepreneurs from Tanzania and Kenya attended the training sponsored by the German aid agency, GiZ.
It was part of the EAWiBP – GiZ project titled “Improving participation of women entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the EAC and AfCFTA integration processes”.
Ms Kimaro said the training was another opportunity for women entrepreneurs in the region to learn about the EAC Simplified Trade Regime (STR) and AfCFTA instruments.
The agreements, she explained, are intended to help women entrepreneurs to trade "more easily and efficiently" across the EAC region.
Business analysts say small-scale traders in the bloc are often at a disadvantage when it comes to trading under the EAC Simplified Trade Regime (STR) and the AfCFTA instruments.
"This is because they lack the information and resources, they need to navigate the complex trade rules and regulations", she further said.
Ms. Kimaro added that "information asymmetry" was still a major challenge facing small-scale traders in the EAC region.
According to her, the new capacity building initiative was a step towards addressing the challenge "and helping small scale traders to take advantage of opportunities offered by the EAC bloc and AfCFTA.
One possible solution is to create a digital platform that would provide small-scale traders with access to information about trade regulations,market prices, and other resources.
This would help them to better compete in the market and make informed decisions about their businesses besides providing real-time updates on the latest prices for goods.
Other challenges facing cross-border traders within the EAC are risk of violence and harassment, especially when they travel alone.
Others include lack of access to finance. They have difficulties accessing loans and other forms of financial assistance.
"This can make it difficult for them to start or expand their businesses," the EAWiBP coordinator said, noting that the traders are often harassed by the border officials through higher fees.
Ms. Kimaro urged the trade facilitation agencies from Kenya and Tanzania to do more to address the challenges in question.
She said that the agencies need to provide women cross-border traders with the information and resources they need to succeed.
She said AfCFTA has " a great opportunity" for women cross border traders to expand their businesses and reach new markets.
Other speakers at the event called on the trade facilitation agencies in the EAC to do more to support "these women and help them succeed".
Mr. Lamech Wesonga, the Economic Policy Advisor from GiZ asserted that despite making up 80 percent of cross border traders in EA, women still face a lot of challenges.
Mr. Frank Dafa, the manager in standards and NTBs from the East African Business Council (EABC) said women and youth have potential to strengthen inclusive economic growth in the bloc.
Mr. Amedeus Mzee, a representative from the Foreign Affairs and EA Cooperation said border regions should be transformed into crucial hubs for intra-regional trade.
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