By Diana Omueza
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) says it is intensifying efforts to remove barriers hindering women and youth participation in fish trade.
Ms Florence Mulenga-Sinyangwe, Lead for Women, Youth and MSMEs at AfCFTA, said this on Tuesday at a regional workshop held in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was organised by the AfCFTA Secretariat, ECOWAS Commission and TradeMark Africa to empower fisheries stakeholders.
Mulenga-Sinyangwe said non-tariff barriers, high tariffs and other trade restrictions have been identified as factors increasing costs and reducing effectiveness of cross-border trade activities.
According to her, the cost of export permits remains high, while delays in documentation processing continue to hinder smooth trade operations regionally.
She identified lack of harmonised standards and certification requirements as other major challenges affecting women and youth engaged in fisheries trade activities.
“ECOWAS officials said that there are programmes and simplified trade regimes being introduced to assist small-scale traders,” she said.
Mulenga-Sinyangwe added that the organisation was engaging regional experts to explore how AfCFTA and ECOWAS could collaborate to remove barriers affecting fisheries trade.
“Discussions also focused on using existing AfCFTA and ECOWAS tools to promote wider trade opportunities for women and youth.
“Most negotiations under the AfCFTA agreement have been concluded, while implementation efforts continue with member states and regional economic blocs.
“Implementation will make trade cheaper, reduce costs and ensure all African state parties participate fully in intra-African commerce activities,” she said.
The AfCFTA lead said the agreement also provided a special protocol to support women and youth previously excluded from effective continental trade participation.
She added that TradeMark Africa joined efforts to support implementation of the women and youth protocol and regional value chain development.
She said that agriculture and agro-processing were among priority value chains, with women and youth playing major roles across sectors continent-wide.
According to Mulenga-Sinyangwe, partners such as TradeMark Africa and Mastercard Foundation are supporting women and youth participation in fish and fish products trade.
Ms Liliane Kamanzi, representative of the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO), said the body was promoting harmonised standards to support fisheries trade.
“Our main mandate is to put in place harmonised standards and strengthen conformity assessment to support sectors, including fish and fisheries.
“ARSO with partners, have implemented initiatives promoting standards adoption, especially among small businesses and women-led enterprises across member countries.
“Only two months ago, we awarded African Quality Marks to 65 SMEs in five countries.
“The quality certification will enable beneficiaries’ trade more easily among African countries under the continental free trade framework,” she said.
Kamanzi noted that the two-day workshop would identify existing gaps impeding fisheries trade and generate practical solutions through stakeholder collaboration and partnerships.
“We hope to hear from you what gaps exist and what is impeding your trade in the fisheries sector,” she said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)