Yaoundé, 12 June 2026 (ECA) – In Central Africa, women are the main actors in informal cross-border trade. Yet their economic potential continues to be constrained by multiple barriers at border crossings and along value chains.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), through its Subregional Office for Central Africa, officially launched on Friday 12 June 2026, the Development Account 18 (DA18) project entitled “Enhancing Cross-Border Trade Involving Women-Owned Informal Businesses in Africa.” Implemented in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, the project aims to strengthen the capacities of women cross-border traders, increase their access to opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and support their gradual integration into formal and regional trade.
Findings from ECA’s study entitled “Characterization of informal cross-border trade in Central Africa: The case of the Cameroon–Gabon–Equatorial Guinea tri-border area” reveal that women account for 67 per cent of informal cross-border trade operators. They are also responsible for 61 per cent of export activities, making them the primary drivers of cross-border trade flows within this economic area. Even more remarkably, 84 per cent of them operate on their own account, demonstrating significant entrepreneurial potential.
The challenges faced by women traders remain considerable. According to the study, 71 per cent of operators report a limited understanding of the trade and customs procedures governing their activities. These challenges are compounded by the high costs of border formalities, informal payments, mobility restrictions and limited access to finance.
In his opening remarks, Jean Luc Mastaki Namegabe, Director of ECA’s Subregional Office for Central Africa, emphasized that the success of the AfCFTA will depend on African countries’ ability to fully integrate the economic actors who sustain daily exchanges across borders. “Women cross-border traders make a decisive contribution to household incomes, food security and the economic resilience of our communities. This project seeks to transform borders into spaces of opportunity, trust and shared prosperity,” he said.
The launch webinar brought together United Nations Resident Coordinators from Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, as well as several United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, including UN Women, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), alongside directors and representatives of ECA’s headquarter divisions.
Partners unanimously underscored the relevance of the project and expressed their readiness to contribute to its implementation by mobilizing their respective expertise in the areas of mobility, gender, trade facilitation and trade development.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) highlighted the natural complementarity between the project’s objectives and its own interventions along the Douala–Bangui and Cameroon–Chad corridors.
According to Abdel Rahmane Diop, Chief of Mission of IOM in Cameroon: “Informal cross-border trade remains insufficiently understood, insufficiently measured and insufficiently recognized. IOM has extensive expertise in border data collection, flow management and support to mobile communities. We stand fully ready to place this experience at the service of the project in order to maximize its impact.”
For its part, UN Women emphasized the need to further strengthen the gender dimension of the project. According to Marie-Pierre Racky Chaupin, UN Women Representative in Cameroon: “Women traders continue to face cases of harassment and violence at border posts, a reality that remains insufficiently documented. Addressing these challenges, while strengthening women’s leadership, will help deepen the project’s impact and promote genuine economic empowerment for women.”
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) welcomed the initiative as an innovative undertaking with the potential to accelerate the integration of women and SMEs into intra-African trade. Habiba Ben Barka, Chief of the Africa Section at UNCTAD, stated: “It is rare to see a project specifically targeting women engaged in informal cross-border trade. This initiative represents a powerful lever for promoting a more inclusive form of trade that is better integrated into the African market.”
UNCTAD also expressed its willingness to contribute its expertise in the areas of digital trade facilitation, simplified trade regimes and the production of sex-disaggregated statistics.
African Republic of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the Central African Republic, Rachelle Anne-Marie Mian Diangoné, UN Women Representative in the Central African Republic, welcomed the initiative as particularly relevant for a landlocked country that relies heavily on regional trade corridors. She reaffirmed the commitment of the United Nations system to support its implementation through a coordinated approach.
For her part, Betty Wabunoha, Resident Representative of UNDP in Equatorial Guinea, recalled that strengthening intra-African trade has become a strategic imperative for enhancing the resilience of African economies in the face of global disruptions. She also called for greater harmonization of border procedures.
The project, which will run through 2029, will deliver, among other outputs, a regional analytical study on informal cross-border trade, a georeferenced database of markets, trade routes and border posts, public-private dialogues on cross-border trade, and national roadmaps for more inclusive and gender-responsive trade. The initiative will also focus on strengthening the capacities of women traders and stakeholders involved in the governance of cross-border trade flows.
According to Ghitu I Mundunge, Head of ECA’s Economic Diversification Policy and Reforms Unit and Project Coordinator: “The ambition of this project is to transform data into public policies, policies into concrete reforms, and reforms into economic opportunities for women traders. It is about laying the foundations for a more inclusive, better documented and fully AfCFTA-aligned cross-border trading system.”
The next steps agreed upon by stakeholders include the establishment of the Project Steering Committee and the designation of national and regional focal points involving the ministries responsible for trade and gender in the four beneficiary countries, as well as the relevant regional organizations, namely ECCAS and CEMAC. The project also plans to launch its first analytical studies and data collection activities without delay.
In his closing remarks, Jean Luc Mastaki Namegabe called on partners to sustain the momentum generated by the launch: “When women traders cross borders under better conditions, the whole of Central Africa moves forward. By investing in their economic empowerment, we are investing in regional integration, the resilience of our economies and the success of the AfCFTA.”
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Zacharie Roger MBARGA - Communications Officer
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