The Co-Founder and Director of Programmes at Ghana Women in Trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (GWITA), Doris Adoboe, has revealed that approximately 80 per cent of women and young people involved in cross-border trade encounter challenges such as delays and harassment, partly attributed to digital exclusion.
Her remarks come amid discussions about the structural barriers preventing women from fully benefiting from opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Ms Adoboe explained that many women and young traders operate informal businesses without official registration, making cross-border transactions more complicated and contributing to delays at border posts.
She noted that the lack of business registration often creates difficulties for traders seeking to move goods across borders.
“Eighty per cent of women and youth are informally transacting their businesses. That means they have not registered their businesses. And so when they are crossing borders, they have a lot of delays in crossing the borders or doing business across borders,” she said.
Ms Adoboe further alleged that some Customs officials demand additional payments from traders despite their possession of the required documentation. She said traders sometimes face unnecessary questioning when officials fail to recognise information contained in their certificates of origin.
“There’s also a harassment part of it where Customs will pretend not to see what is stated on certificates of origin and will still be asking questions, and people will be demanding extra cash from you,” she stated.
According to her, digital exclusion may be contributing to the problem, as documents issued in one country may not be accessible through the digital systems used by officials at border posts in another country.
“I think it’s because of digital exclusion, because what is being issued here, they don’t have it in their system at the border post,” she added.
Ms Adoboe stressed that the absence of integrated digital systems across border posts can lead to unnecessary delays and create opportunities for harassment. These challenges, she said, continue to undermine the ability of women and young people to participate effectively in cross-border trade and take full advantage of the AfCFTA.
