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ECOWAS is stepping up support for women in cross-border trade, rolling out training and a regional programme designed to strengthen their role in West Africa’s economy. The push recognises women traders as key drivers of regional integration, food security and household incomes across the bloc, including Nigeria.
A Regional Push for Women in Cross-Border Trade
Through its Gender Development Centre, ECOWAS organised a Regional Fortnight on Women’s Leadership and Economic Empowerment through Small-Scale Cross-Border Trade in Lomé, Togo, from 18 to 28 June 2026. The event forms part of the ECOWAS Gender and Trade Action Plan.
It brought together representatives of member states, women traders’ associations, financial institutions, border authorities and development partners. The programme featured an awareness caravan along key trade corridors, a regional trade fair for women-led farm, fisheries and artisanal products, and a week of capacity-building on ECOWAS trade rules, the African Continental Free Trade Area and women’s entrepreneurship.
Earlier Training on the Ground
The regional fortnight builds on hands-on training delivered earlier in the year. In May 2026, the ECOWAS Commission partnered with Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) for a five-day workshop in Banjul, The Gambia, focused on the agribusiness sector.
That session helped women traders better understand and comply with the legal, regulatory and policy rules that govern their businesses across borders. Knowing those rules can be the difference between a smooth crossing and costly delays, harassment or seized goods at frontier posts.
Voices From the Market
For many women who trade across West Africa’s frontiers, the daily reality is one of long queues, informal charges and uncertainty about which papers they need. Traders have long complained that a lack of clear information leaves them vulnerable to exploitation by middlemen and officials alike, eating into already slim margins.
Programmes like the ECOWAS fortnight aim to change that by putting reliable knowledge directly in the hands of the women who move goods. When traders understand their rights and the rules of free trade, organisers say, they can negotiate from a stronger position and keep more of what they earn.
Why It Matters for Nigeria
Women make up a large share of the small traders who move food and goods across West Africa’s borders every day, including Nigeria’s busy frontiers with neighbouring countries. Yet they often face informal charges, poor information and limited access to finance that hold back their earnings.
By equipping them with knowledge of trade instruments and the AfCFTA, ECOWAS hopes to turn informal hustling into more secure, profitable businesses. Stronger women-led trade can lower food costs, deepen regional markets and create jobs in communities on both sides of the border.
Building a Bigger Network
ECOWAS has also moved to expand cross-border women-in-development networks, linking traders so they can share information, pool resources and speak with a louder voice on the obstacles they face. For Nigerian women in markets near the borders, the challenge now is turning summits and workshops into real changes at the crossing points where business actually happens.
