The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Conference on Women and Youth in Trade, convened under the patronage of Tanzania President H.E. Samia Suluhu Hassan and in conjunction with the Government of Tanzania, Champion of Women and Youth in Trade under the AfCFTA Conference themed “Women and Youth: The Engine of AfCFTA Trade in Africa” took place from 12 to 14 September 2022, in Dar-Es-Salam. Women, youth, and political and business leaders from across the continent joined arms to discuss how women and youth as drivers of intra-African trade can be positioned at the centre of the economic benefits of the AfCFTA.Ā
Representing GraƧa Machel Trust, Ms Shiphra Chisha, the Trust’s Director of Programs, spoke about women and youth as drivers of industrialisation in the context of the AfCFTA, which creates linkages for women and youth in trade. She pointed out the importance of harnessing the potential of women- and youth-led businesses in creating and participating in regional and continental value chains and provided concrete actions that can build the capacity of women and youth to meaningfully participate in the economy. She said, if women are half the world’s population and have been disempowered, at best, or deliberately stifled, then humanity should take responsibility for its many failings and stagnation. In other words, we would have collectively ensured that 50% of the world’s economic potential is made redundant.Ā
Ms Chisha acknowledged the contributions of women and youth to the economy. She said, “if women can successfully trade amongst themselves in an improvised manner, only their imagination can limit how farĀ they can go when they are eventually all supported with the right financial and technological tools to trade across borders andĀ thereby scaling up their enterprises.”Ā
“The AfCFTA, now supported by the Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade, will not just integrate the continent but is meant to draw from the power of women entrepreneurs locally, regionally, inter-regionally,Ā and at the continental level”, said Ms Chisha. She also emphasised that there is a need for budget planners and decision-makers to ensure the allocation of funding to train women and support local businesses so that women will have theĀ financial, technological, legal, and administrativeĀ understanding to engage in transnational trade.
“Women will be the implementors of the AfCFTA Protocol and need to position themselves as a collective. Hence, a call to the government to encourage the private sector to support preferential procurement policies to ensure women are kept with resources for industrialisation,” she added.
Dr Amany Asfour, the President of the African Business Council,Ā and other members of the GraƧa Machel Trust New Faces New Voices (NFNV) Emma Kawawa were present at the conference.
Among other high-level delegates at the conference was Dr Monique Nsanzabaganwa, the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission. She is also a member of the GraƧa Machel Trust’s Women in Finance Network, said, “Agenda 2063’s Aspiration 6 seeks to create a prosperous Africa which is people driven. Relying on the potential of the populace, particularly that of women and youth, pointing out the AfCFTA as one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063 would be critical to fostering a people-driven and inclusive development agenda.”
The AfCFTA’s Protocol on Women and Youth forms part of a series of continental-wide consultations with women and youth.Ā The Protocol strives to offer workable solutions to the ongoing issues faced by women and young people who engage in both formal and informal trade across the continent.Ā
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The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Childrenās Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescentsā health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trustās goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a motherās health and social economic conditions, the early years of a childās life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.