Addis Ababa, August 10, 2026 (FMC) – Ensuring women-led businesses become active participants in Africa’s expanding cross-border trade is central to realizing the economic opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), according to Dr. Nigest Haile, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Accelerated Women’s Economic Empowerment (CAWEE).
With the AfCFTA creating a unified market valued at $3.4 trillion, Dr. Nigest emphasizes that women entrepreneurs must move beyond the informal economy and gain greater access to formal trade networks, regional value chains, finance and technology.
Since its establishment in 2004, CAWEE has expanded its work from supporting grassroots Ethiopian entrepreneurs to developing a pan-African network, extending its activities into Kenya and establishing a presence in Accra, Ghana, near the AfCFTA Secretariat.
The organization’s approach addresses longstanding structural barriers that have limited women’s participation in continental commerce. Women have historically been concentrated in informal trade, while African economies have continued to rely heavily on exporting raw materials and importing finished products.
Dr. Nigest argues that changing this pattern requires greater investment in local processing, value addition and complementary production systems across African countries.
“Africa cannot achieve meaningful economic achievement if we continue to export raw materials, and import finished products, as I mentioned, like exporting green coffee and importing Nescafe,” she explained, stressing that value addition must be at the heart of AfCFTA implementation.
She also advocates building regional production partnerships rather than placing neighboring economies in competition. For instance, Ethiopia’s finished leather products could complement Ghana’s footwear manufacturing industry, allowing both countries to retain more economic value, generate employment and strengthen intra-African commerce.
Turning this vision into practice requires more than opening markets. CAWEE works directly with women-led enterprises to improve their capacity to meet export requirements, develop competitive products and access regional and international markets.
Over the past two decades, the organization has supported businesses in growing from small operations employing two or three people into enterprises with more than 50 employees. It has also organized trade delegations to over 30 countries across Africa, Europe and North America.
Its support includes assessing businesses against regional quality standards and helping entrepreneurs improve product packaging, labeling and branding. CAWEE also works with major banks to facilitate tailored financing arrangements and promotes digital literacy among women entrepreneurs.
Another initiative aimed at addressing barriers to market access is the planned launch of the Abyssinia for Intra-African Trade e-commerce platform in 2027. The platform has already attracted more than 200 companies from Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda, with expansion plans covering Ghana, Zambia, Tanzania and Uganda.
Meanwhile, CAWEE is advancing practical trade partnerships through a corridor connecting Ethiopian women exporters in agribusiness, leather and gemstones with buyers in Kigali, Rwanda.
The initiative involves engagement with government officials and other stakeholders to harmonize customs procedures and address logistical challenges, including the high costs of air cargo transport.
For Dr. Nigest, connecting women exporters across national borders is part of a broader economic ambition: building an integrated African market in which women-owned enterprises contribute directly to regional production, trade and prosperity.
“Connecting women exporters across Ethiopia, Rwanda, and the wider COMESA region is much more than increasing individual business revenues,” she noted. “It’s about building the foundations of an integrated African market, African economy.”
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