February 27, 2018

One stop border posts foster African prosperity

located:	Kenya, Uganda
editor:	Bob Koigi

In a continent where the bulk producers of food are women, land ownership for African women remains a mirage. As a result, access to credit services for millions of women is nearly impossible, with land predominantly acting as collateral. And while land and food questions remain compounded by a myriad of hiccups – including failed rains – women have found a silver bullet in trade, transacting ordinary goods and services that has gained them access to a new world of opportunities.

In East Africa for example, women form 80 percent of all informal traders, in a sub-sector government and policy makers have hailed women as a vital component in job creation and income generation for households and the national purse. The trade has grown beyond borders, inspiring a new wave of commerce that allows traders of different countries to freely interact.

But with stringent and bureaucratic border procedures, and with the misconstrued fears of exorbitant taxation at border points, these traders have, over time, used dangerous routes to cross from one country to another. They pass through forests, rivers and rough terrain with goods and children in tow, putting themselves and their children under unimaginable risk and danger.

According to a UN Women survey in Africa, out of 60 percent of women informal traders interviewed, 26 percent indicated that they had been raped by law enforcers while using the unregulated routes. In the Great Lakes region, another 80 percent admitted to having paid a bribe according to a World Bank report.

The one stop border post concept, currently gaining traction across the region is a welcome relief, especially to women. Chaperoned by TradeMark East Africa – an institution that fosters trade between East African member states and the rest of the world – the idea is pegged on a simplified trade regime that allows faster and more efficient movement of goods and services across trading partners.

The border posts allow women traders, who are the majority of their families’ breadwinners, trade freely across countries while exempting them from duty for goods within a certain threshold. This has made it safer and more profitable for their businesses. The Busia One Stop Border Post at the Kenyan Uganda border, and one of the busiest in East Africa, has amplified what harmonising of systems and processes can do to citizens genuinely looking for a source of income.

And while farming, traditionally providing income for millions, takes a hammering from climate change, informal trade has positioned itself as a panacea for dwindling agriculture related incomes and cyclic poverty. Innovative ventures like the one stop border posts now hold promise for turning these traders into agents of prosperity for Africa and the world.