Global Affairs Canada has pledged CA$20 million to empower women traders in Ghana and five other West African countries through the Making Trade Work for Women in West Africa project.
The Making Trade Work for Women in West Africa project would be implemented in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria.
Launched in collaboration with CECI and TradeMark Africa, the five-year initiative aims to support 80,000 traders, 70 per cent of whom are women, by improving their access to markets, financial services, and sustainable trade practices.
The project also seeks to address gender-based barriers at border crossings, which have long hindered women’s participation in regional trade.
Speaking at the launch, the Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, Myriam Montrat, emphasized that the initiative aligned with Canada’s feminist foreign policy.
“To us, it wasn’t a no-brainer to collaborate with CECI and with TradeMark Africa to ensure the project comes to fruition.
As was mentioned today, Canada is providing CA$20 million so that we can support women traders and ensure that they can prosper. When women thrive, communities thrive, the country thrives, and the whole society and families thrive,” she said.
Madam Montrat explained that while the fund’s disbursement would be managed by CECI and TradeMark Africa, Global Affairs Canada would ensure the money was used effectively to benefit women traders.
A World Bank report highlighted the many obstacles women traders face, including limited access to markets and financial services, harassment at border crossings, and systemic gender-based barriers.
A study along key trade corridors—Tema-Ouagadougou and Abidjan-Lagos—revealed that women comprise 30 to 61 percent of traders, with many reporting negative experiences linked to border and market infrastructure.
“These issues are exacerbated by women’s additional burdens of productive and reproductive roles,” the report noted.
The Making Trade Work for Women in West Africa project includes initiatives such as capacity building where women traders would be trained in financial literacy, business skills, and market access strategies as well as introducing digital tools to enhance trade efficiency.
The project would again champion gender-responsive policies that promote fair trade conditions for women and strengthen the capacity of border officials to protect women traders from harassment and gender-based violence.
Again the initiative would empower the associations and networks of women traders to advocate for their rights in policy-making spaces.
The project aims to increase the number of women traders using sustainable trade practices by 50 per cent and enhance their income levels by 40 per cent. It will also promote knowledge sharing on trade, environmental sustainability, and climate change across Africa and Canada.
Organizers stressed that collaboration among civil society organizations, women’s groups, government ministries, and regional bodies would be key to ensuring a fair and inclusive trading environment.
“This initiative is not just about trade; it is about transforming lives and building stronger economies by investing in the backbone of West Africa’s markets: women traders,” said a representative from CECI.
With this investment, Canada reaffirms its commitment to fostering economic growth and gender equality in the region, offering women traders the opportunity to thrive in a more inclusive and sustainable trade environment.
Source: GNA
