Skills Foresight in SADC: Making the AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade Work to Achieve Inclusivity

The AfCFTA's Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade (PWYT), released in February 2024, aims to promote the socio-economic development of women and youth by providing affirmative action in capacity building, market intelligence, and trade credit. However, the document identifies a significant gap in the protocol's ability to support informal micro-enterprises, which constitute a large portion of women-led trade in Africa. It recommends the implementation of a four-tiered system of cross-subsidisation based on enterprise size and scope, the creation of a continental Simplified Trade Regime (STR), and the transition from volatile official development assistance (ODA) to sustainable funding derived from common external tariffs or domestic sales taxes.

• The PWYT faces an institutional bias toward formal small and medium-sized enterprises, failing to sufficiently address the needs of informal micro-enterprises, which are the primary vehicle for women-controlled and women-run businesses in Africa.
• Informal cross-border trade (ICBT) in Africa is predominantly driven by women, with estimates suggesting they undertake 70% of such trade, contrasting sharply with their low representation in digital trade platforms.
• The author proposes a four-tiered system of vertical equity to cross-subsidise trade services, where large global and continental multinationals contribute to the costs of supporting semi-formal small and informal micro-enterprises.
• Existing Simplified Trade Regimes (STRs), such as the one introduced by COMESA in 2010, have become less effective over time due to increasing documentation and application costs.
• Implementation of the PWYT is complicated by the overlapping memberships of Regional Economic Communities (RECs), which have divergent trade agreements and varying levels of commitment to gender equity.
• Current funding for the AfCFTA and RECs is overly reliant on volatile official development assistance (ODA) and inconsistent member contributions, necessitating a shift toward sustainable internal revenue sources.
• The document suggests a realistic five-year timeline for Phase I amendments to the PWYT, including the revision of origination rules and the definition of non-tariff barriers based on enterprise size and ownership demographics.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2025). Skills Foresight in SADC: Making the AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade Work to Achieve Inclusivity. https://saiia.org.za/research/skills-foresight-in-sadc-making-the-afcfta-protocol-on-women-and-youth-in-trade-work-to-achieve-inclusivity/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Skills Foresight in SADC: Making the AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade Work to Achieve Inclusivity. 2025. https://saiia.org.za/research/skills-foresight-in-sadc-making-the-afcfta-protocol-on-women-and-youth-in-trade-work-to-achieve-inclusivity/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Skills Foresight in SADC: Making the AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade Work to Achieve Inclusivity |date=5 May 2025 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/skills-foresight-in-sadc-making-the-afcfta-protocol-on-women-and-youth-in-trade-work-to-achieve-inclusivity/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2025skills, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Skills Foresight in SADC: Making the AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade Work to Achieve Inclusivity}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2025}, month = may, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/skills-foresight-in-sadc-making-the-afcfta-protocol-on-women-and-youth-in-trade-work-to-achieve-inclusivity/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }