Making AfCFTA Protocol work for Women and Youth in Trade

Dr. Edward Kadozi & Safari Vincent
This position paper advances a critical impetus for integrating the needs and potentials of women and youth in trade for the Rwanda team of negotiation during upcoming negotiations for the women and youth protocol under AfCFTA Phase II&III. Women and youth-led businesses in Africa, and Rwanda in particular, play a significant role in economic transformation and poverty reduction. They account for the majority (80% of the continent’s businesses) of the population, business owners, and workforce, and play a leading role in cross-border trade (formal &informal) in Africa. Is it socially and economically relevant to make the AfCFTA Protocol work for women and youth in trade in Rwanda? If the answer is yes, by doing so, we are enormously contributing to realizing the objective of the AfCFTA for Women and Youth, in particular gender equality and opportunities for youth in the AfCFTA, and Rwanda in particular.