Abuja: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has emphasized the role of women, youth, and informal traders in driving economic growth in West Africa through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). According to News Agency of Nigeria, ECOWAS Programme Officer, Trade Development, Christopher Mensah-Yawson, highlighted the importance of these groups at the 2026 First ECOWAS Parliament Extraordinary Session and Seminar in Abuja.
The seminar, themed ‘Deepening Regional Integration through the AfCFTA: Opportunities and Challenges for Expanding Intra-Community Trade,’ served as a platform for discussing inclusive growth strategies. Mensah-Yawson stressed the need for policies that are gender-responsive, youth-friendly, and inclusive, as these are crucial for the economic resilience, food security, and sustainable development of West Africa. He pointed out that nearly half of the region’s population of over 456 million are women and that the median age is 18.2 years, highlighting both opportunities and challenges for regional integration and development.
Mensah-Yawson urged for urgent reforms to remove structural barriers that prevent women, youth, and informal traders from fully participating in regional trade under AfCFTA. He emphasized that making the AfCFTA work for those historically excluded from formal markets is vital for unlocking regional economic growth and social development across the ECOWAS bloc.
He noted that women represent about 74 percent of informal cross-border trade operators in West Africa, and many young people under 25 depend on informal trade for their livelihoods. However, they face numerous challenges, including cumbersome customs procedures, limited access to finance and storage facilities, gender-insensitive border infrastructure, harassment, extortion, and security risks.
Mensah-Yawson called on Member States and lawmakers to intensify reforms to formalize informal trade, protect vulnerable traders, and dismantle barriers to formal markets. He described AfCFTA as a platform for inclusive trade, citing frameworks like the Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade, simplified trade regimes, digital trade initiatives, and SME support programmes.
Additionally, Mensah-Yawson outlined ECOWAS initiatives such as the Informal Trade Regularisation Support Programme, Trade and Gender Framework (2024-2030), and Regional E-Commerce Strategy, aimed at expanding opportunities for women and youth entrepreneurs. The weeklong event, which began on Monday and concludes on Saturday, seeks to bolster intra-regional trade and achieve sustainable, inclusive economic growth in West Africa driven by AfCFTA.