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Gambia News : Sub-regional women entrepreneurs experience various difficulties, says Gambian VP

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the one-day workshop on the validation of a study on the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme and Cross Border Trade, Ms Njie-Saidy said the core of the integration process in West Africa, has been the promotion of regional trade, through market and monetary integration, and very closed political cooperation, characterized by the free movement of persons, goods, services as well as capital.

“As part of this process, the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme was launched in 1990 with the view to facilitating intra-community trade through the creation of a free trade area (FTA) underscored by the elimination of all forms of tariff and non-tariff barriers, on goods originating from member states”, she remarked.

Vice President Njie-Saidy pointed out that the difficulties that women go through in the course of their cross border trading activities bring to question the role of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme in facilitating trade in the ECOWAS region particularly the cross border trading activities of women traders and entrepreneurs.

She said that after 19 years of implementation, the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme needed to be re-examined against the objective of achieving the free movement of goods in the ECOWAS region.

The director for the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre, Madam Aminata Dibba, said her organization conducted a study on the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme and Cross Border Trade on the experiences of women and entrepreneurs, she stated that this initial phase targeted women entrepreneurs from Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana, adding that this initial report was validated in Cotonou in 2007.

VP Njie-Saidy remarked, “Today’s event falls within the framework of the 2nd phase which has targeted women traders from The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Senegal and Mali”.

The workshop is organized by the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre in collaboration with the office of the Vice President and Gambian Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

The ECOWAS Gender Development Centre was established following a decision taken by the Authority of Heads of State and Government in 2003. The Gender Centre is a specialized agency of ECOWAS that serves as a technical organ to generate requisite knowledge and transfer of skills in gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment.