Lawmakers of the ECOWAS Parliament have called for urgent legal and policy reforms to dismantle structural barriers constraining women- and youth-led enterprises, warning that West Africa risks forfeiting the full benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area if inclusive trade is not prioritised.
The appeal followed deliberations ahead of the Parliament’s First Extraordinary Session of 2026 in Abuja, where members examined strategies to reposition the sub-region for effective participation in Africa’s single market framework.
With a regional population exceeding 400 million—predominantly women and young people—parliamentarians cautioned against allowing AfCFTA to evolve into an elite-driven arrangement that marginalises the informal sector, which underpins much of West Africa’s commercial activity.
Speaker of the Parliament, Rt. Hon. Maimounatou Ibrahima, emphasised the need to address structural bottlenecks that weaken the productivity and competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), particularly those owned by women and youth.
She described AfCFTA as a transformative opportunity for regional economic expansion but stressed that its gains would remain limited without reforms to simplify customs procedures, expand access to finance and eliminate discriminatory border practices.
Christopher Mensah-Yawson of the Trade Directorate at the ECOWAS Commission presented a paper titled “Women, Youth, and Informal Cross-border Traders: Unlocking Inclusive Growth Under AfCFTA.” He disclosed that women account for nearly three-quarters of informal cross-border traders in West Africa, while a substantial number of youths under 25 rely on informal trade for livelihood.
Despite their economic significance, he noted that these traders face persistent constraints, including cumbersome customs documentation, limited credit access, inadequate storage facilities, gender-insensitive border infrastructure, harassment, extortion and insecurity.
Mensah-Yawson identified AfCFTA mechanisms—such as the Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade, simplified trade regimes and digital trade platforms—as potential instruments for formalising and scaling small businesses. He added that ECOWAS has introduced complementary initiatives, including an Informal Trade Regularisation Support Programme, a Trade and Gender Framework (2024–2030), and a Regional E-Commerce Strategy aimed at integrating vulnerable traders into formal markets.
However, lawmakers argued that policy frameworks must be reinforced by enforceable national legislation and measurable implementation benchmarks.
Guy Marius, a parliamentarian from Senegal, called for safeguards to protect local SMEs from being overwhelmed by larger continental competitors under AfCFTA’s liberalised trade regime. Nigeria’s Blessing Onu urged targeted integration of women and youth into national trade policies and advocated expanded access to affordable financing for emerging entrepreneurs.
Hon. Amodu Camara of The Gambia warned against rhetorical commitments without concrete timelines, pressing for measurable interventions to support women- and youth-owned enterprises.
Other members highlighted the continued impact of non-tariff barriers, weak border management systems and inadequate infrastructure on intra-regional commerce.
The debate reflects a growing consensus within the ECOWAS Parliament that AfCFTA’s success in West Africa will depend significantly on its capacity to uplift millions of small-scale traders—particularly women and young people—who drive the region’s informal economy.
As AfCFTA implementation advances, legislators signalled that proactive lawmaking, regulatory harmonisation and targeted investment will be essential to ensuring that the sub-region’s most vulnerable entrepreneurs are fully integrated into Africa’s expanding trade architecture.
