The Women in Cross-Border Trade Conference has started in Lilongwe with calls from delegates to promote awareness on trade opportunities in the region and to remove non-tariff barriers to enhance trade facilitation.
The conference, being held under the theme ‘Overcoming organisational challenges for successful implementation of the African Free Trade Area and Simplified Trade Regime (Beyond Borders)’ has brought together 320 women traders and government officials.
In her remarks, Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare Jean Sendeza urged women cross-border traders to familiarise themselves with existing trade laws, regulations and agreements to protect their interests.
She said: “Women cross-border traders try to cut corners because they are not familiar with the opportunities provided by trade agreements.
“They try to cut corners and end up losing more in bribes or penalties. We [local authorities] have to promote awareness to protect these women.”
The 2019 Malawi FinScope MSME Survey estimates that the MSME sector contributes about 40 percent to gross domestic product (GDP) and 24 percent of employment and that about 21 percent of the country’s adult population derives their livelihood from the sector.
An analysis by the World Bank shows that MSMEs, including cross-border traders have potential to contribute more to the economy, but their capacity to expand remains low because they do not have the same access to knowledge and networks as larger businesses.
In an interview, conference chairperson Martha Kamchacha bemoaned bureaucracies and bottlenecks that traders face when transporting goods across borders.
She said: “We do not have the infrastructure and simplified procedures to help us expedite border processes.
“We end up taking too long at the border, which is a problem for our business, considering that crossing the border is a key component of our business.”
The Malawi Government with support from the World Bank through the Southern Africa Trade Connectivity Project, is constructing one-stop border posts on the country’s main borders to expedite border processes.
For instance, the Mchinji-Mwami One-stop Border Post has cut down the waiting time from about eight days to 48 hours.
On his part, Cross-Border Traders Association president Steven Yohane said they have already moved to address the knowledge gaps among local small-scale traders, saying the the conference is one of the measures to orient traders on existing opportunities.
“One of our biggest challenges is access to finance. We intend to use this meeting to provide information on initiatives and opportunities offered by the World Bank, through Agcom and the National Economic Empowerment Fund,” he said.
Trade experts say improving knowledge networks and access to finance could significantly improve the capacity of MSMEs to expand and contribute more to the economy.
