The Gender Mainstreaming Strategy - For Africa’s Continental Free Trade Area

Abstract:     
In Africa, like in many other developing regions, when one thinks of the informal sector, s/he sees women first. This is because the informal sector is a large source of employment for many African women. A research, by the International Labor Organization (ILO), found that more than 80 per cent of sub-Saharan African women who do not work in the agricultural sector are employed by the informal sector compared to 63 per cent of man. Similarly, a recent World Bank Report found that African women’s participation in the informal cross-border trade is far greater than men’s. According to the report, 85 per cent of the people engaged in the informal cross-border trade are women, 44 per cent of them being involved in such trade since about four years, and 82 per cent of officials regulating such trade are men. Looking at these statistics and considering the involvement of African women in the agricultural sector, one can clearly argue that African women are the engine of Africa’s trade (not considering the natural resources sector) and an important factor of Africa’s economy. This is because the agricultural sector, the informal sector and the informal cross-border trade are trees important drivers of Africa’s economy. That is, I think that if African leaders really want to boost intra-African trade and establish a successful Free Trade Area, they would have to involve women in all level of their decision-making and in all their activities and programs aimed at boosting trade. Thus, the African Union (AU) has to adopt gender mainstreaming as one of its strategies for boosting intra-African trade and as an important factor necessary for the establishment of a successful continental FTA. This issue, relatively short, will define and explain gender mainstreaming before explaining the gender mainstreaming strategy for a successfully CFTA.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 4

Keywords: Regional Integration, Africa, Gender Mainstreaming, Africa's Trade Law Newsletters

working papers series