How women can export more from Eswatini
Eswatini wants to promote gender equality through trade. Better data and gender-inclusive policies can give women ways to grow their businesses through international trade, especially by tapping into free trade schemes with Africa and the European Union.
Proposals on exactly how to use trade policy to support women in trade emerged from a 17–19 July workshop. The event gathered Eswatini policymakers and women entrepreneurs who met with experts from the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the European Union (EU).
‘While building women’s capacities is crucial, it is not enough. We must build a conducive environment where women can fully realize their potential and actively participate in economic activities,’ said Vanessa Erogbogbo, Chief of ITC’s Sustainable and Inclusive Value Chains section.
During the workshop, government officials and trade experts received training on how to design, implement and evaluate policy in ways that integrate and improve gender inclusivity. This training was based on ITC’s guide for policymakers, From Design to Evaluation: Making Trade Policy Work for Women.
Women's business associations gave on-ground insights. Paired with data from SheTrades Outlook, this showed how policies and institutions currently support women in trade and entrepreneurship. Based on data from 21 public and private organizations, participants highlighted several practices and areas for policy reform:
- Collect data on how many businesses are led or owned by women, specifically on exporters;
- Facilitate women’s access to information on trade regulations, customs procedures and market access opportunities. An online platform can house this information in English and Siswati;
- Establish a trade and gender coordination mechanism to include gender in policies and practices at trade and trade-related agencies;
- Conduct gender impact assessments of trade agreements, such as the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), to monitor and evaluate the impacts of trade policy on women and men.
Women entrepreneurs can also capitalize on an economic partnership agreement between the European Union and Southern African nations, which eases trade with EU countries. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) also presents new opportunities. However, in a survey of 70 African women’s business associations, only 15% said their organization had been consulted on AfCFTA. By sharpening women entrepreneurs’ understanding of such partnerships, Eswatini stands to grow its economy.
The workshop identified three ways to start getting more Eswatini women ready to export: flexible access to the markets, more training programmes, and simplified trading processes.
Measures like these would broaden trade and investment opportunities, giving women entrepreneurs greater access to markets. The ITC programme, Eswatini: Promoting growth through competitive alliances, seeks to offer small businesses and artisans a business-enabling environment. It gives access to the knowledge, tools and opportunities needed to better compete in Eswatini and on the global market.
The project was co-created by ITC’s Alliances for Action and the EU. It complements the work of SheTrades, ITC’s flagship programme for women and trade.
About the European Union Delegation to Eswatini
The EU Delegation to Eswatini is responsible for managing diplomatic relations between the EU and the Kingdom of Eswatini. These relations cover political relations, development cooperation, economic and trade relations as well as other areas of mutual interest between the two partners. The central objective of this partnership is to reduce and ultimately eradicate poverty through sustainable development, the progressive integration of Eswatini into the world economy, and the promotion of the rule of law, democracy, and human rights.
About the Programme
The ITC-Alliances for Action programme Eswatini: Promoting growth through competitive alliances, funded by the EU, supports job creation for small farmers, entrepreneurs, and artisans. Eswatini offers the global market unique organic produce, artisan roasted coffee, handmade cultural creations, and gourmet condiment lines.
ITC works closely with smallholder farmers, agro-processors, and artisans in Eswatini to support them in ways that are sustainable and benefit both people and the planet. In this way, ITC fosters and preserves cultural heritage, and draws on artisan skills and concepts of green growth.
Alliances for Action is an ITC initiative that seeks to transform food systems through producer partnerships that cultivate ethical, climate-smart, sustainable agricultural value chains.
About ITC SheTrades Outlook
SheTrades Outlook is ITC’s policy tool that promotes inclusive policies and data. Through 55 indicators and 6 pillars, the tool helps stakeholders assess, monitor, and improve the institutional ecosystem for women’s participation in business and international trade.
Policymakers and other stakeholders can find more details on results and recommendations in the SheTrades Outlook Eswatini policy brief, available on the online tool.
ITC invites additional countries across the world to join SheTrades Outlook. For more information, please visit our website or contact womenandtrade [at] intracen.org (womenandtrade[at]intracen[dot]org).
