International Women’s Day unfolds as the world grapples with recovery from the worst health and economic crisis for nearly a century. United Nations (UN) projections indicate that the crisis will push 47 million more women and girls into poverty with devastating impacts on future generations. COVID-19 is a grave setback for inclusive socio-economic development in Africa, rolling back gains made by many African countries on poverty eradication, food security and gender equality that lie at the heart of sustainable growth.
#AfCFTA offers state parties an opportunity to put in place a holistic approach to industrial policy that addresses gender barriers and promotes inclusive and sustainable industrial development as part of post-#COVID-19 recovery.
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The Agreement Establishing the AfCFTA connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a gross domestic product of $2.5 trillion. A single market created under the Agreement has the potential to generate new trade and entrepreneurship opportunities for women across the key sectors of agriculture, manufacturing and services. In creating better jobs in trade, AfCFTA can improve women’s economic participation, advancing gender equality outcomes and contributing to the building of inclusive African economies. The AfCFTA also provides significant opportunity to promote Africa’s digital transformation. Indeed, the implementation of digital solutions can play a critical role in facilitating intra-African trade.
Benefits will not be automatic
The AfCFTA agreement was negotiated at the continental level, but implementation of the agreement will be at the country level. Notwithstanding its potential, gains will not be automatic. While AfCFTA market liberalization will open up important trade and economic opportunities, it will have a differential impact on women and men across the continent due to gender inequalities in access to resources and opportunities, in capabilities and in security, as three dimensions which directly affect women’s participation in the economy.
Delivering on the transformative promise of AfCFTA for African women requires an inclusive approach to AfCFTA implementation. As part of this process, deliberate efforts should be made to analyse opportunities for gender-equitable gains. For example, integrating a gender dimension in the design of a new generation of agricultural policies and complementary measures that address the pervasive gender gap can spur rural and agricultural development. This could include identifying opportunities for female small-scale producers and exporters to competitively participate in high-value regional agricultural value chains. It is essential, as part of this process, to address persistent gender stereotypes that keep vulnerable women in low paid and less skilled work in certain nodes of the agricultural value chain.
#AfCFTA will not deliver on its goal of inclusive and sustainable development if gender stereotypes, legal and cultural barriers continue to deny women equal economic opportunities
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Opportunities should be sought for women’s participation in the production of high-value agricultural commodities and agri-food products for export markets within Africa. In particular, niche export markets should be identified together with other empowerment opportunities for women’s participation, including high-return crops and crops with forward linkages to value-added sectors. To advance knowledge sharing and access to new export markets under AfCFTA, strong linkages should be created between large commercial agro-manufacturing firms and smaller businesses.
Africa’s industrialization under AfCFTA
Women represent about 38 per cent of the manufacturing workforce in Africa, with the highest representation in the textile and clothing industry. Driving Africa’s industrialization under AfCFTA offers state parties an opportunity to put in place a holistic approach to industrial policy that addresses gender barriers and promotes inclusive and sustainable industrial development as part of post-COVID-19 recovery. Consequently, interventions should promote wage employment for women in traditional manufacturing sectors that offer enhanced value addition and export-generating opportunities, as well as in non-traditional export sectors that emerge as high growth drivers. It is important to consider the gender-specific effects of export-oriented industrialization. While manufacturing does offer formal employment opportunities, women workers tend to participate in the lower-skilled intensive levels of value chains and in lower-skilled intensive sectors and jobs.
As part of resilient recovery post-COVID-19, customized support must be extended to women entrepreneurs who make up about 58 per cent of Africa’s self-employed population. An ECA study indicates that women-owned enterprises are more prevalent in informal than the formal manufacturing sector. Access to finance is a critical lever to ensure that women entrepreneurs can raise productivity levels and improve business competitiveness to grow beyond borders. However, improved access to finance alone will not grow Africa’s women-led enterprises that encounter distinctive gender barriers. Support must extend beyond access to finance and should include women entrepreneurship programmes and soft skills training that builds the low trading capacity of women-led business towards meaningful participation in an integrated continental market. The adoption of AfCFTA-specific digital trade solutions such as single windows, electronic certificates of origin and automated processing of trade declarations can address various border management challenges that disproportionately impact female traders. Small-scale women traders, in particular, can benefit from cashless cross-border payments and mobile banking systems that reduce risky cash-based transactions, while limiting the risk of physical contact, harassment, bribery, corruption and confiscation of goods at the border.
The pandemic offers Africa a ‘window of opportunity’ to create inclusive and resilient laws, policies and regulations that ensure we do not go back to the unequal pre-COVID business-as-usual paradigm.
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A window of opportunity
The extent to which women can maximise AfCFTA opportunities depends on removing existing inequalities and gender-based trade barriers in the design of gender-responsive AfCFTA policies and complementary measures. Leveraging the benefits of the AfCFTA for women goes beyond trade policies. Equally, COVID-19 illustrates that governments alone cannot overcome the challenges stemming from strong shocks. The critical juncture in this crisis requires an ecosystem of partners, including African governments and policymakers, private sector, civil society and development partners, to work together to support economic empowerment interventions identified in AfCFTA national policy processes. Targeted measures that ensure improved access to skills and training, financial resources and digital technologies will address some of the binding constraints that disproportionately affect women.
We must recognize that AfCFTA will not deliver on its goal of inclusive and sustainable development if gender stereotypes, legal and cultural barriers continue to deny women equal economic opportunities. The pandemic offers Africa a ‘window of opportunity’ to create inclusive and resilient laws, policies and regulations that ensure we do not go back to the unequal pre-COVID business-as-usual paradigm. Redressing various forms of inequalities, including gender inequalities in AfCFTA implementation must be central to our collective efforts to build back fairer conditions for every African.
Thokozile Ruzvidzo is the Director of Gender, Poverty and Social Policy at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Nadira Bayat is a Gender and Trade expert at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
