African Free trade: Whats in it for women?
After years of planning and delays, Africa\u2019s new trade bloc, the African Continental Free Trade Area, opened in January with the promise of transforming the continent\u2019s economies. Amandla Ooko-Ombaka of McKinsey and Company in Nairobi explains the enormous poverty-reducing potential the bloc represents. But some are calling for the agreement\u2019s terms to more directly benefit women, by helping facilitate trade in their wares across borders. Caroline Gethi of the Organisation of Women in International Trade and Gloria Atuheirwe of Trademark East Africa say the agreement hasn't gone far enough to promote gender equality, and that it as yet doesn\u2019t even recognise the role of women in informal trade which is the backbone of Africa\u2019s economies.
Producer: Frey Lindsay
(Image credit: Getty Images.)