Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment: Qualitative Analysis of SMEs from Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria, and Senegal

Abstract

Using Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria, and Senegal as case studies, this chapter elucidates the dynamics of trade and women empowerment in Africa through a qualitative analysis that involved focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) with managers and employers, and employees of SMEs, as well as government officials and Trade Support Organizations (TSOs). After presenting the operational context of trade and economic performance in the four candidate countries, the barriers to women’s participation in trade are discussed using the PESTLE framework. Our qualitative analysis shows that cross-cutting factors that influence job creation for women across the trade sectors include the nature of work, job demands in terms of physical strength and timing, and working conditions of employees. The chapter argues that trade has the potential to empower women. However, if finds that various challenges prevent women from maximizing the gains from trade and proposes that a strong public–private partnership is necessary for trade to lead to women empowerment.

4.1 Introduction

The increasing level of globalization and economic integration witnessed around the world, including developing regions, has offered varying opportunities, ranging from trade to capital flows and to diversification and other development opportunities (Omoke & Opuala-Charles, 2021). Participation in international trade provides employment opportunities, increases sectoral productivity, and subsequently boosts the growth process. African countries are known for their overreliance on a few unprocessed primary commodities, which represents 70% of the total continent exports (International Food Policy Research Institute [IFPRI], 2021). IFPRI (2021) identifies that most of the products exported are niche products with relatively small markets, while processed intermediate and final products mainly dominate the continent's imports. Although some of these imported products are further utilized for industrialization purposes, the continent has been deprived of enjoying increased employment opportunities and faster industrialization that are attached to exporting processed and final commodities.

It is also essential to highlight that intra-African trade accounts for about 13% of the total trade, suggesting that African countries trade mostly with non-African countries, although this estimate does not account for informal cross border trade. Women play a crucial role in trading of essential agricultural products and economic services across borders. Yet, the continent’s trade potential is seriously undermined by the different constraints faced by women in trade in Africa. When compared with other regions of the world, including the Southeast Asian region (see Chapter 3), Africa experiences more trade-related bottlenecks, which limits the continent’s contribution to global trade. Brenton et al. (2013) highlight that these trade barriers and constraints against women push them to the informal sector where they lack access to information, networks, and finances. Consequently, the informal sector, which is highly driven by women, contributes about half of the trade within the continent (Koroma et al., 2017).

Furthermore, UNCTAD (2022) shows that women feature extensively in trade in Africa, accounting for over 70% of informal trade in the region. Women are faced with different constraints, which discourage them from formal international trading and engagement in other economic activities. Also, Brenton et al. (2013) noted that women in the informal sector are often extorted and harassed at the border and denied access to essential trade networks compared to men. In addition, women in production activities are less able to get the required inputs and materials that can raise their productivity and allow them to compete better in the international market. All these barriers or exclusion invariantly limit women’s contribution to African trade. In recent times, the African Development Bank has created programmes such as The African Women In Business Initiative (AWIB) and the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), designed to reduce the gender inequality gap and promote the activities of women in trade. However, the impact of trade and trade policies on closing the gap, and the contribution of women, remain low. This outcome is partly due to several structural factors which include employer discrimination, gender norms, cultural barriers, and lack of productive resources, but it is not the same everywhere. Hence, it is essential to investigate the various factors that can hinder the inclusion of women in trade in different countries.

This chapter utilizes the PESTLE (political, economic, social, technology, legal and environmental) framework to investigate the factors that affect women’s inclusion in trade in Africa. The PESTLE framework is traditionally used in business to categorize, capture and partition macroeconomic issues that affect a business from its external environment (Perera, 2017) in order to come up with strategies to overcome them. By adopting this tool, the interest is to ensure that all issues affecting women’s participation in trade are well captured in a systematic pattern. This enables comparison of the results across countries included in the case studies: Madagascar, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal.¹

While the quantitative analysis using survey data (see Chapter 2) for this current research project provided information to bridge the gap in knowledge, the qualitative analysis in the current chapter follows the same approach as in Chapter 3. It uses the above four country case studies to further bridge the gap with evidence from focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs). As in Chapters 2 and 3, the following main research questions of the research project were explored in this qualitative analysis: (1) Why—and under what circumstances—do some trade sectors create more jobs for women and others do not? (2) To what extent are the jobs created contributing to women’s economic empowerment? (3) What strategies and policies are needed to ensure these sectors work optimally?

In the next section, the methodology and approach to the FGDs and KIIs across the candidate countries is presented. Section 4.3 presents background information on the operational context of trade and economic performance in the four candidate countries, while Sect. 4.4 unveils critical information about women in trade in Africa. This is followed by a discussion of barriers to women’s participation in trade in Sect. 4.5 using the PESTLE framework. Section 4.6 provides a detailed analysis and discussion of the results obtained from the FGDs and KIIs. The final section concludes with a brief overview of the main findings and policy implications.

4.2 Research Design

Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) were employed to understand the challenges of women engaging in trade in the countries under investigation. The study areas in each country were cities of decent size, including capital cities as follows: Accra and Kumasi in Ghana, Antsirabe and Toamasina in Madagascar, Lagos and Kano in Nigeria, and Dakar and Ziguinchor in Senegal. In addition to complementing the evidence that emerged from the survey (see Chapter 2), the FGDs and KIIs are used to understand women in trade issues at a deeper level than we could access with the survey. The FGDs and KIIs are helpful for probing, adding meaning and deeper understanding to existing knowledge, or getting at the “why” and “how” of issues affecting women in trade. In addition, the FGDs and KIIs are a good way to confirm that the participants’ stated preferences during the survey are the same as their actual preferences even after the survey. This helps to overcome the dilemma where in some instances, some participants answer surveys with what they think the enumerator wants to hear, rather than their actual opinions.

The KIIs were conducted with government officials and leaders of Trade Support Organizations (TSOs). FGDs were organized as follows in each of the countries (Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria and Senegal): (1) managers and employers (2) government officials and TSOs (3) employees: minimum of 2 FGDs with (a) women only (b) both men and women. It was ensured that key economic sectors—agriculture, manufacturing, and services—are represented in the discussions. The discussions mostly involved exporting SMEs. The participants were selected through purposive sampling to ensure diversity in terms of gender, job roles, enterprises, and key economic sectors. The participants were assured of anonymity and confidentiality of the information provided.

4.2.1 Participants’ Recruitment Process and Demographics

The participants were drawn from the sample of SMEs that were initially surveyed. Prospective focus group participants and key informants were pre-screened to ensure the selected individuals meet the target qualifications. The targeted participants were those that own or manage an SME that is export oriented and SMEs that are representative of the agricultural, manufacturing and services sectors. This selection process helped to ensure that the selected participants had more knowledge and understanding required in the discussion, which leads to higher quality data. In most cases, invitations were sent to participants by email with follow-ups by email and/or phone calls.

Eight FGDs were conducted in each of the 4 countries. In terms of composition, each FGD had between 5 and 8 participants and in terms of duration, each FGD lasted 1 to 1.5 hours. The discussions were facilitated by a team of trained experts and note takers. The facilitators and note takers were selected based on their level of skills and knowledge about the subject matter, fluency in the local language and the ability to conduct FGDs/KIIs. This makes it easier for the facilitators and note takers to observe the interactions between different group members, as well as recording what they say. A total of 152 participants from the 4 country case studies (Nigeria, Madagascar, Ghana and Senegal) participated in the FGDs and KIIs. The majority (60%) of the participants were female and this is in line with the overwhelming focus of the project on ‘women in trade’. The participants were spread across the manufacturing, agriculture and services sectors with the manufacturing sector having the higher percentage (44%) of representatives followed by services (39%) and agriculture (17%).

4.3 Context²

4.3.1 Ghana

Ghana borders Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo, and is identified by the World Bank as a lower-middle income country. Similar to other African countries, Ghana has been traditionally known to depend on the exports of a few primary commodities, although there is evidence of transition towards exporting intermediate or final products. 46.16% of the total exports of Ghana in 2019 were raw materials, while 45.26% were intermediate goods (WITS, 2019). In fact, the World Integrated Trade Solution highlights that Ghana’s major export locations are China, Switzerland, India and South Africa, while the top countries Ghana imports from are China, the US, the United Kingdom, India and Belgium. More efforts towards increasing the exportation of intermediate goods are currently in force, as seen in the ratification of the AfCFTA. With the latest publication of the Global Enabling Trade Report in 2016, which reveals the extent to which countries have the capacity to facilitate trade, Ghana was ranked 100th out of 136 countries. Ghana was also ranked 106th of 160 countries by the World Bank Logistics Performance Index report of 2018, which also identifies the capacity of countries to efficiently move goods and services and connect with consumers and producers.

Although this position is higher than some other African countries, hence proving Ghana’s better relative trade performance, there is still a need to do more to increase its export capacity, involving more people in trade, and networking with potential consumers and producers. Ghana’s trade openness has been on a declining trend since 2000 with a lot of fluctuations over the years. However, the country has run a trade surplus in the last few years, with gold, cocoa and oil being the leading exports. Average growth over the period 2010–2019 was 6.8% and the country quickly rebounded from the pandemic with a growth rate of 5.4% in 2021. Absolute poverty has declined significantly since the early 1990s but has remained fairly stable at around 25% from 2012 to 2016.

4.3.2 Madagascar

Madagascar is the only low-income country among the countries selected for analysis in this chapter. Like many other African countries, the development drive has made Madagascar network with other countries within and outside Africa. Although about 93% of its exports are to countries outside Africa, ratification of the AfCFTA has revealed its consistent efforts towards improving trade, especially with countries within the continent. As of 2020, the World Integrated Trade Solution notes that Madagascar’s top exports destinations are France, the US, Germany, China, and Netherlands while the top five major countries from which the country imports are China, India, France, United Arab Emirates, and South Africa. Following the rankings of the Enabling Trade Report of 2016, Madagascar was ranked 109th of 136 countries. In 2018, the World Bank Logistics Performance Index ranked Madagascar 128th of 160 countries.

In recent years, the country’s trade openness has improved. The government encouraged diversification in the economy by promoting free zones in the early 1990s to ensure an increased trade performance and the drive towards development. Foreign investors were also given tax breaks to encourage viable investment opportunities in the country (OECD, 2006). Madagascar also signed a series of trade agreements, including with the European Union (the “Everything But Arms Initiative”) and the United States (the African Growth and Opportunity Act). It is also essential to highlight that the country has attracted many firms due to the signing of trade agreements and its relatively low wage levels (OECD, 2006). However, it has continuously run trade deficits over time, in part because of a heavy dependence on fuel imports. Madagascar’s average growth rate from 2010 to 2019 was 3%, and after a negative growth rate of 7% in 2020 as a result of Covid-19, growth rebounded to 4.4% in 2021. Investments in infrastructure, mining and tourism have driven growth in recent years but the majority of the population (70–80%) lives in absolute poverty, making Madagascar one of the poorest countries in the world.

4.3.3 Nigeria

Nigeria, due to its sheer size, is one of the economic and trade giants in Africa. Nigeria accounts for about 200 million out of the continent’s 1.3 billion population. Through mining and agricultural activities, the country provides crude oil and other inputs, such as agricultural products, for industrialized economies. As a result, a number of countries within Africa and outside the continent have networked with Nigeria to strengthen the relationship between them. According to the World Integrated Trade Solution, Nigeria’s top exporting destinations in 2020 were India, Spain, Netherlands, South Africa, and China, while China, the US, India, Netherlands and Belgium were the top importers.

However, Nigeria is performing poorly in trade facilitation, and ranked 127th out of 132 countries in the 2016 Enabling Trade Index (Weforum, 2017). The index measures the capacity of a country in terms of the institutions, policies and services, which are key drivers of flow of goods over borders. Furthermore, in the World Bank Logistics Performance Index of 2018, which measures the trade logistics efficiency of countries, Nigeria ranked 110th out of 160 countries. Both statistics show that trade facilitation is weak compared to comparable countries. Nigeria’s trade openness (measured by trade as a percentage of GDP) has fluctuated over time and declined in recent years. The decline in trade performance, tied to lower oil prices, is highly linked to the decline in economic performance (Khobai et al., 2018; Omoke & Opuala-Charles, 2021).

This has led the government to make significant efforts to ensure an excellent relationship with other countries, which subsequently influences their trade performance. For instance, the country has been having a series of conversations to reduce trade barriers. This effort was evident in the recently ratified WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement on January 20, 2017, amended WTO agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights 1994 (TRIPS) Agreement on January 16, 2017, and the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) in December 2020. The country also has 15 bilateral investment agreements currently in force with 31 countries. Overall, the country’s trade performance, including its overreliance on oil, still needs significant improvement in order to further increase the performance of the economy. Average growth from 2010 to 2019 was 3.6% but this was less than half of what had been achieved in the previous decade. The most recent estimate put Nigeria’s absolute poverty rate at around 30% for 2018, which would amount to more than 60 million Nigerians living in absolute poverty in that year. Growth was 3.6% in 2021, after a negative growth rate of about 2% in 2020.

4.3.4 Senegal

Being a country bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, Senegal has access to many trade opportunities. However, Senegal was ranked by the Enabling Trade Index in 2016 96th out of 132 countries that have the capacity (in terms of the institutions, policies and services) to facilitate the flow of goods over borders and to their destinations. The World Bank Logistics Performance Index, which measures countries’ trade logistics efficiency, also ranked Senegal as 141st out of 160 countries. These statistics indicate that trade facilitation is weak in Senegal, and the low ranking in logistics might partly explain the country’s low trading performance. Since the early 1990s, the extent to which Senegal is opened to trade has been increasing, but unstable. According to the World Integrated Trade Solution, Senegal’s top export countries are Mali, Switzerland, India, China, and Australia while they imported majorly from France, China, Netherlands, Belgium, and Nigeria in 2020. Senegal has also signed regional and international trade agreements with many countries.³ Senegal’s average growth rate was 4.8% from 2010 to 2019, and fell to 1.3% in 2020 before a strong recovery to 6.1% in 2021. Absolute poverty has declined significantly over time and was less than 10% in 2018.

4.4 Women in Trade in Africa

Whether trade liberalization has an overall positive impact on the economy or not is still under debate. However, one of the notable conclusions that has been identified in the literature is that the extent to which a country can benefit from trade depends on how inclusive its trade policy is, and by extension other crucial factors that influence the involvement of people, especially women, in trade (Acharya et al., 2019; Amakor & Onwuzuligbo, 2019). In this subsection, we focus on how to benefit from trade and address critical factors that reduce the involvement of women in trade in Africa.

In the last two decades, the Sub-Saharan African region has experienced strong economic growth (Adekoya et al., 2022) but it had already started slowing down before the Covid pandemic (World Bank, 2022). When it comes to the role of women in trade, there is increasing need for gender mainstreaming in the recent trade policies and reforms in the region. For instance, the World Bank and World Trade Organization (2020) disclose that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which connects 54 countries in Africa that comprise roughly 1.3 billion people, would make it the largest free trade area globally and would promote the participation of women in trade (World Bank, 2022). More specifically, the agreement has the potential of creating viable jobs for female workers, thereby increasing the worth of female-dominated labour-intensive sectors. With an expected expansion of outputs in these sectors, there would be a rise in the wages for female workers, so that by 2035, there would be about 4% and 3.7% growth in the wages accruable to skilled and unskilled female workers, respectively, in comparison with a 3.2% growth for the male workers. Empirical reports also reveal that, in recent years, entrepreneurial activities have been on the increase (Jaiyeola & Adeyeye, 2021), with women taking a significant participation (Tende, 2016).

4.4.1 Overall Female Employment

Despite the increasing consideration of women in trade in Africa, the proportion is still low for many key sectors of the economy when compared with other countries of the world. On average, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) appears to be doing well in terms of overall women employment, as observed in Fig. 4.1, where the average women employment rate between 1991 and 2020 is 58.51%, following the 60.28% for East Asia and the Pacific (EAS), and followed by North America (NAC).

Fig. 4.1

(Source World Bank, 2022. Note Middle East and North Africa [MENA]; Latin America and Caribbean [LCN]; European Union [EUU]; Europe and Central Asia [ECA]; Central Europe and the Baltics [CEB]; North America [NAC]; Sub-Saharan Africa [SSA]; East Asia and the Pacific [EAS])

Regional overall women employment rate, 1991–2020

The trends over the years (Fig. 4.2) seem to strengthen this information, as MENA is consistently behind other regions, whereas SSA and EAS consistently compete for the top. The SSA seems to be improving its performance especially since 2005 when its total female employment rate began to match up with that of EAS.

Fig. 4.2

(Source World Bank, 2022)

Trends in regional overall women employment rate

4.4.2 Sectoral Female Employment

Although the share of females in total employment is fairly high, especially in SSA, compared to other regions of the world, the available data reveals that the employment rate is unevenly distributed across sectors. The informal sector of the economy tends to be the major destination for women's employment through trade and other job engagements, while they are marginalized in other viable sectors. The agrarian nature of the African clime is obviously reflected in the overwhelming engagement of women in agricultural activities. Thus, a higher proportion of women in total female employment in the agricultural sector is found in Africa. In Nigeria, for instance, the dominance of women in the processing and marketing of food is around 75% (Olaosebikan et al., 2019). The entire SSA region has women producing about 80% of food (Ali & Ali, 2013). Margolis and Buckingham (2013) uncover that agriculture serves as the means of livelihood for about 50% of African women who are economically agile.

The employment situation appears to be reversed for the industrial and service sectors whereby female employment lags other developing regions. The general assertion that men are physically stronger than women (Li, 2021) could partly be the reason for this low outcome, and especially where the use of capital and technology is more limited. The ranking is not better for services, except that globally more women render more services than they are involved in industrial activities. SSA still records the least value (31.96%) followed by EAS (40.99%) and MENA (56.27%), in that order. NAC and EUU top the list with values of 88.28% and 77.40% (World Bank, 2022).

4.4.3 Wage and Salaried Female Workers

As trade also affects the wages and salaries paid to economic agents, it is important to also comparatively examine the wage distribution of the population across the world regions. Figure 4.3 shows that a low proportion of African females in economic activities are in wages and salaries employment (World Bank, 2022). This low share in Africa is largely due to the nature of employment, which is dominated by self-employment, and is mostly agrarian. Another plausible reason for the huge wage-gap is that most of the women's activities are informal—where productivity tends to be lower.

Fig. 4.3

(Source World Bank, 2022)

Share of wage and salaried female workers across regions

4.5 Barriers to Women’s Participation in Trade

It is essential to note that the participation of women in trade in Africa is still low when compared with many other developing regions of the world. Following the global drive for the reduction in gender inequality (SDG 10), women are increasingly being supported, encouraged, and induced to participate in economic activities in order to close the gender gap. Subsistence agriculture, where a high proportion of women is employed, has limited the impact of agriculture on economic performance, welfare, and poverty. Furthermore, inherent bottlenecks along the path of women’s engagement in trade in Africa, resulted in more women engaging in informal trade. Consequently, few women are involved in trade in the industrial and service sectors. Similarly, Randriamaro (2008) argues that the benefits women derive from trade are limited due to issues relating to institutional, economic, regulatory, cultural, and unfriendly policy environments. The next subsections investigate these barriers using the PESTLE (political, economic, social, technology, legal and environmental) framework (Perera, 2017).

4.5.1 Political Barriers

Most African nations still fall behind when it comes to women’s participation in political engagements and decision making, Women only account for an average of 20% of the political participation at whatever level of government (African Barometer, 2021). There is often a hidden denial of equal access to political activities and decisions, even though it appears that the constitution openly declares equal rights and opportunities. Culture, social attitudes, limited access to education, nomination criteria, etc. are contributory factors to this. The high prevalence of corruption, in most African countries, is a major barrier against women, as they are mostly subject to further exploitation when compared to men. Moreover, there is also evidence that exploitation of the human body, sexually or otherwise, can be used as a currency in corruption (UNODC, 2019), which is further being exacerbated by the growing insecurity. Rising incidences of terrorism, domestic and regional conflicts, military takeovers, etc. are sources of insecurity, which impede women in trading activities.

4.5.2 Economic Barriers

The cost of starting a business in Africa and of trading is much higher than in the OECD and East Asian countries (OECD, 2021). Given the disadvantaged position of women in Africa, trading becomes more challenging. For example, when compared to other developing regions of the world, most African women lack sufficient credit facilities. Oftentimes, since they are not allowed to own lands, valuable property or even inherit properties, they do not possess the collateral to obtain sufficient loans for their trades. Also, access to credit in the private sector is usually limited and concentrated in a few large firms, and is associated with several bottlenecks to access. The degree of social, and gender inequalities in Africa, mostly triggered by culture and income disparities has been a critical factor undermining access to finance by women. This is further worsened by poor trading networks, lack of access to market contacts, lack of a standardized trading system that can easily link female traders with buyers. An attempt to provide standardization in these markets via trade liberalization has been discovered to decrease wages mostly for low-skilled jobs with weak bargaining power. For example, in Africa, a decrease in tariffs on labour-intensive imports led to higher job losses for women than for men (UNCTAD, 2020).

While the AfCFTA is likely to drive tariffs down, it will also facilitate an easier trading system for small traders. The agreement provides affordable channels for informal traders (which are mostly women) to do business via organized and formal routes, thus dealing with the existing vulnerabilities that women in cross-border trade often experience, such as violence and harassment. Though the merits of AFCFTA might not be immediate, its long-term benefits cannot be ignored. Volatile exchange rates could have diverse effects, depending on many factors. Generally, they result in exchange rate risk, which makes participation in foreign trade and investment difficult. So does stiff foreign competition through imports, and as most countries in Africa rely on imports, domestic production is stifled out.

4.5.3 Social Barriers

Many women engaged in trade within Africa are faced with discrimination, especially at borders. For instance, Higgins and Turner (2010) observe for East Africa that females trading across borders are often pestered to pay higher bribes than the male traders or avoid detention and/or confiscation of goods through the provision of sexual favour. Insufficient transport facilities, high cost of transportation, unofficial roadblocks, and movement restrictions are common practices by security officials in some African countries, some of which were further worsened by COVID-19 restrictions. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to reducing employment and livelihoods for women, especially for low-income women in the border districts in the year 2020 (Luke & Macleod, 2021). These small informal traders were particularly vulnerable to movement restrictions and border closures imposed by most African countries. The effects of the pandemic further aggravated existing vulnerabilities. The impact of COVID-19 was more prevalent on women because of existing gender inequalities, such as limited educational opportunities, lower wages for women, restricted access to finance, higher dependence on informal employment and social constraints. Until recently, with the increased awareness for girl-child education, education was believed to be more important for the male child. Culture, social values and beliefs, etc. contribute to poor education and limited access to training for women. As many African tribes believe substantially in traditional values, many cultures and religions place limitations on what women can do, own, control, and achieve.

4.5.4 Technological Barriers

Lack of modern and advanced preservatives for perishable products has resulted in poor agricultural outputs, which is the most prominent trading activity by women in Africa. Similarly, lack of access to modern and sustainable energy sources, such as solar energy, exacerbates women's poverty in the region, which further hinders their ability to afford these modern, expensive sources of energy. Yet, electricity is not regular and stable in many African countries. Slow technological advancements, especially for agricultural implements and fertilizers, have made subsistence farming activities to be the most prominent in the region, thereby causing a barrier to expanding trade.

4.5.5 Legal Barriers

Favourable, and continuity in, government policies are difficult to come by in some African countries, making trade policy uncertain, which adversely impairs performance. Women, on the other hand, are more disadvantaged in terms of access to the judiciary to seek redress against unofficial fees and harassment. Excessive trading documentation, long procedural filing and processes, difficulty in obtaining licences, and burden of taxes and tariffs which hinders trading activities and increases production cost, are also more prevalent among female traders, considering the time they require for other household obligations. According to the World Bank (2013) report on Women and Trade in Africa, and further confirmed in Warrenet al. (2019), an overwhelming percentage of cross-border traders are women, with weak security at the borders resulting in smuggling and other vices; these female traders are subject to violence, attacks and other kinds of physical harassment. Smuggling, however, further increases informalities in trading activities, both of which compete with domestic trade.

4.5.6 Environmental Barriers

The consequences of climate change have a severe environmental impact on trade, especially primary produce traders. Consequently, factors such as flood, drought, heatwave, pollution, which adversely impact agricultural output, aquatic animals and damages the irrigation system, constrain productivity in farming. It is noteworthy that in many African countries the majority of small and medium-scale farmers are women. Likewise, women are more vulnerable to certain adverse weather and climatic conditions than men, they are more susceptible to partner violence, poor mental health, occupational health hazard and food insecurity following extreme weather events, which limit their performance.

4.6 Key Findings from Qualitative Analysis

The qualitative data obtained from the FGDs and KIIs was analyzed using thematic analysis. This ensured that consideration is given to popular opinions from participants, in line with the research questions posed. The theme-specific summary of some of the highlights is presented below. In addition to presenting the findings by theme and by country, we elaborate more on the commonalities/differences across countries. This is presented in the cross-country analysis section for the different themes.

4.6.1 Modalities and Conditions for Trade Sectors to Create Jobs for Women

The data on sectoral employment presented earlier reveals that over 50% of African women who are economically agile rely on agriculture. While there is enormous evidence of the existence of this disparity, reasons for these remain under researched. Thus, the concern, which is the first question of the current research, becomes, why do some trade sectors create jobs for women and others do not? The themes that emerged from the analysis are job requirements; engagement in export; and working conditions.

4.6.1.1 Job Requirements

In the case of Kumasi, Ghana, all the managers of the SMEs indicated that their sector of work is conducive to the creation of jobs for women and that it wouldn’t matter if they are producing for export or local market. However, the arguments went in the direction that sectors such as cosmetics, food clothing/fashion are more conducive to the creation of jobs for women. On the other hand, the situation in Accra, Ghana was different. Here, the participants pointed heavily towards the service sector as being most attractive to women. One of the participants opined that most women-owned businesses are into the service sector and small-scale production because they are risk-averse and lack the needed funding and financial support including the restrictions of collateral associated with accessing loans from financial institutions. Another participant explained that women preferred to work in services because of the perception that manufacturing jobs are male-dominated, and that they feared competition.

For Madagascar, discussions also centered around the fact that some industries are more conducive for women due to the nature and requirements of the job. The industries where women are concentrated are textile and food processing. Concerning the textile industry, an FGD participant from Madagascar made the following statement,

Yes, I think that handicrafts are one of the promising sectors for job creation for women. The first reason is that women are more competent than men in this field, especially in the production of traditional hats, tablecloths, “rafia” bags, and “Lamba Landy” (scarves), products solicited by Americans and Europeans. These products are at the same time easy to elaborate on. And it is easier for exporters of handicrafts to obtain authorization from the Ministry of Trade.

Another participant who shares the same view also added that jobs such as sewing, and embroidery are also dominated by women in Madagascar. Managers who are into vanilla export also opined that they prefer to employ women as they believe women pay more attention to sensitive jobs than men. Some participants opined that the IT sector in Madagascar is not conducive for women. Given that the IT sector does not require physical strength or heavy lifting, it is not clear why the sector was singled out as the industry that is not conducive for women. It is evident that there are other forces at play, which serve as a barrier to women participating in the sector. Some of these barriers, as observed from discussions, include the nature of the job, which requires high level of dedication, education and time. Female participants noted that dividing their time and attention between work and family puts them at a disadvantage over men in competing for these types of jobs. The conclusion from the discussions points towards the direction that the IT sector demands high level of mental concentration and attention, and women do not have the luxury of time to accommodate such demands due to family pressure and other domestic tasks. Furthermore, women have lower formal education attainment than men in Africa which may also be the reason for lower representation in the IT sector (Baten et al., 2021).

From the discussions in Nigeria, there were comments which pointed towards the fact that type of industry sectors/job requirements may help explain the reasons why some trade sectors create jobs for women and others do not. For instance, some of the participants believe that jobs or sectors where there are constant requirements for overtime are not favorable for women. In validation of this, one of the male participants who is a business owner had this to say,

In terms of overtime, it favours men as they have the ability to do more. (Male FGD participant from Nigeria)

This statement goes to reinforce possible recruitment bias that male business owners have over employment of men in Nigeria. In line with this, another participant cited a situation in her company where accounting jobs in her organization are only given to men:

Where I work, management prefers a male accountant as they always work late at night every day and are ready to put in longer hours to meet up with tasks which may be unpaid. A woman will not be able to do that, especially if she has a family to take care of. (Female FGD participant from Nigeria)

Furthermore, the requirements of the job in terms of physical strength were also raised by participants in Nigeria. They opine that it is very common to see fewer women in certain sectors like construction, engineering and transportation, where more physical strength is required. One of the participants argued strongly that women will always be underrepresented in sectors like transportation. Another participant who is from an engineering background inferred that even when women are employed in the engineering sector, it is usually in the departments where less physical energy is required. Moreover, there was a consensus among the participants in Nigeria that sectors such as food processing, services and agriculture are the industries which favour women. This active involvement of women in the food and agricultural export processing sector was attributed to innate abilities—such as patience and attention to details—possessed by the women. The service sector was found to be another sector which also favours the employment of women since they have the qualities needed such as care, empathy and compassion. It is therefore evident that the requirement of the job in terms of physical strength is a strong determinant of the employment of women in certain sectors in Nigeria. A surprising fact from the discussions is the underrepresentation of women in the art industry, despite the fact that this industry requires little physical energy. One of the participants (female) who exports art mentioned that the industry “…is not conducive because it is like most women are forced into the business”. The participant further explained that art is not encouraged in Nigeria, as parents do not see it as a rewarding career, especially for women.

In the case of Senegal, the managers and employers who joined the focus groups told us that the manufacturing (processing) sector is more conducive to job creation for women. The arguments were that these activities are more dedicated to women. One of the FGD participants in Senegal cited an example in the processing of local products and fisheries where women comprise most of the workers in this sector. The establishment of these companies that are export oriented and within a sector considered conducive for job creation for women is welcome news. Nonetheless, in Dakar, Senegal, a few participants argued that agriculture and services are more dominated by men as they require more physical labor than processing. Meanwhile, in Ziguinchor, the agricultural sector was cited as conducive to job creation for women by managers of businesses in the sector who were part of the FGD. Although it was not very clear why this little variation exists in the same country, a clear trend in discussions is that the nature of what is being produced has a great impact on whether women are adequately or under-represented in a sector. Thus, these variations could be attributed to the nature of what is being produced in the two regions.

A cross-country analysis of the research findings shows that in terms of job requirement, some industries are better suited for women than others. Industries or jobs that require less physical effort, have lesser competition, and require extra special care have been cited as the attractive factors to women. The majorly mentioned industries are agriculture, textiles (clothing), and food processing. These were common among the four countries. In terms of differences across countries, it was only in Nigeria and in Accra, Ghana, that the service sector was heavily cited as among the attractive sectors for women. There were some mentions of the service sector as well in Dakar, Senegal but it was not cited as a case in Ziguinchor. The same situation happened in Ghana where it was not also clear why Kumasi and Accra would have variations in responses with regards to industries that create more jobs for women. This could be attributed to possible structural differences in the two regions, as Accra and Dakar, are the capital cities and thus, likely to be more service oriented than Kumasi and Ziguinchor. With these, it could be safe to argue that job requirements can explain why some industries (exporting or not) create more jobs for women and others do not.

4.6.1.2 Engagement in Export

Exporting is one of the forms of organic growth of a firm. Many, if not all of the participants acknowledged the importance of exporting in job creation for women. The participants said that exporting opens up new markets, creating higher demand, which in turn leads to more job opportunities. While the data shows a consensus toward the notion that exporting creates an equal chance for both men and women alike, some participants strongly believe that women benefit more than men from exporting as it opens up opportunities (especially in the agricultural sector) that would not have been there if firms were not exporting.

In Ghana, participants agreed that when engaged in exports, demand will be higher, leading to the creation of more jobs that will employ women. However, they also noted that this depends on the type of sector the firm is operating. Participants from Madagascar believe that exporting gives woman an advantage in certain sectors such as textile/clothing, and increases the chances of more women being engaged in gainful employment than men. FGD participants from Nigeria noted that women do more on the processing of goods for exports, especially agricultural produce such as fish and shea butter, therefore exportation of these products benefit women more than men. And in Senegal, discussions went in the direction that since exportation requires a large quantity of production, the demand for labor for exporting firms will increase, and this will translate to increase in number of women, especially in the processing sector. In summary, there is a consensus from all the countries that exporting may be more beneficial to women than men. This is especially true for sectors such as agriculture, where more women are involved.

4.6.1.3 Work Conditions

In the case of Senegal, some managers pointed out that there are no differences in terms of working conditions across different industries, since they are regulated by the labor code. They noted that it does not matter whether the firm is exporting or not as there is a central regulation and standard across the board. This was the same conclusion in Ghana. In summary, in countries such as Ghana and Senegal, cases of harassment and abuse of women were not cited by the participants. This was only peculiar to Nigeria and Madagascar. The harassment of women at work was heavily emphasized for Madagascar. The participants noted that it is one of the serious challenges that women face in the workplace. However, this was not attributed to a particular industry, and it did not matter whether the firm was exporting or not. Speaking on this issue from Madagascar, one of the FGD participants noted the following, “Women are still underinformed. They do not receive special support in the sector. But more importantly, there is still harassment of women in the office”. In Nigeria, while both men and women are motivated to work in businesses with good work conditions, men are found to be more tolerant to unfavorable work conditions than women. Thus, work conditions can be said to be a good determinant of the extent of women employment in a particular firm or sector. For instance, a participant highlighted that woman are more prone to harassment and sexual abuse, withholding of sick or maternity leave, and forced to work overtime. When probed further, she disclosed that it would not make any difference even if her company was not exporting as this was a management problem. However, this was only peculiar to Nigeria and was a minority opinion.

4.6.2 Impact of Trade Sectors on Women’s Economic Empowerment

Trade has the potential to accelerate women's empowerment by creating new jobs, improving consumer choices, increasing women's bargaining power, and improving their well-being. To realize such potentials, however, trade policies that promote gender equity and reduce discrimination against women are required. Otherwise, trade may result in job losses for women as well as a concentration of women in lower-skilled jobs. This section presents the qualitative case study findings on how trade contributes to women's economic empowerment.

4.6.2.1 Access to and Control Over Productive Resources

Promoting women’s access to, use of, and control over, productive resources such as land, skills and education are essential to ensuring their right to equality, increased participation in exports, and improved standard of living. Based on this premise, we sought to understand how jobs created for women through trade are contributing to reducing pre-existing gender disparities in access to, and control over, land, as well as access to other productive resources and services. Also, the FGDs and KIIs reveal that most jobs created within the trade sector for women are low skilled and do not contribute significantly to reducing inequality and improve women’s access to skills and education. Information gathered during the FGDs indicates that discriminatory practices that give women less access to productive resources than men is still widespread. This suggests that although trade is creating jobs for more women in Africa, women are not equally empowered to be competitive and productive like their male counterparts.

Moreover, female employees within the African trade sector hold a disproportionate share of lower-skill jobs. The gain of these women from jobs within the trade sector can be maximized through policies and practices that increase women’s access to, and use and control, over productive resources. Such policies and practices should promote increased access to education, training, skill acquisition, adoption, and use of technology by women. Positive changes in sociocultural attitudes and investment in digital education were also identified as keys to building human capital needed by women to benefit more from trade related jobs.

4.6.2.2 Access to Decent Work

While evidence from the case studies across Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria and Senegal reveals that exporting SMEs are expected to create more jobs for women than non-exporting SMEs, this study further accessed the level of decency of such jobs. Majority of the FGD/KII participants opined that the work environment, hours of work, health and safety standards, and overtime pay are not significantly different in firms that export in comparison to firms that do not export. Some quotes from the participants from the Nigeria and Senegal case studies reiterate the issues as follows:

The working conditions in terms of safety standards and health standards are the same. (Female FGD participant, Nigeria)

We work overtime according to market demand but the extra-worked hours are not paid. (Female FGD participant, Senegal)

Only very few of us receive bonuses according to the turnover of the company. (Female FGD participant, Senegal)

Employers are only concerned about getting the work done and completing the tasks. Unfortunately, the extra working hours you put in to get the work done is not paid for. (Female FGD participant, Nigeria)

Similar experiences were shared by female employees in Madagascar particularly in the service sector. For example, an employee revealed that “I work as a service provider and I have to ensure the objectives. Sometimes it takes me a whole day to finish my work. So I cannot say no to overtime. As long as my target is not met, I have to keep working”. Another female employee in the service sector in Madagascar equally added that “I work a lot and overtime does not exist”.

In addition, most of the employees considered their work conditions such as health benefits and safety standards inadequate. Some complained that their working hours are unreasonable, and they are unable to say no to overtime. While some sectors have unions (particularly in Madagascar and Ghana), majority do not have unions because they are ‘contract staff’. Some of the employees are not aware of trade union organizations that exist in their sectors.

Very few employees have formal contracts … as a result, most do not benefit from social benefits such as paid leave, bonuses, withdrawal payment, health insurance, etc. (Female FGD participant, Senegal)

… we cannot create a union if we do not have a formal contract. Indeed, we are afraid of losing our job in an era where it is very difficult to find a job. (Male FGD participant, Senegal)

However, in Senegal (Ziguinchor), most employers pointed out that “although companies that export are more demanding, they respect health conditions and safety standards more than companies that do not export”. Moreover, it is noted from the analysis of the results from Ghana that employees alluded to the fact that the work conditions in firms that export are quite different from firms that do not export. Some of the quotes from Ghana are: “They are not the same. Workers at the exporting sector are always provided with appropriate PPEs. This is because exporting firms have higher profit margins, and they can afford to buy the PPEs for their workers but workers that produce for the local market are usually not provided with PPEs”. Other female participants added that “when you are producing for exports, certain certification requires you to add to the production design certain things such as the business surroundings, the working hours of workers and other safety standards before the certificate are issued to you. However, these do not exist when you are producing for the local market”. As revealed by some of the quotes, these differences were attributed to export orientation of the firms and regulations.

Gender disparities in salaries and wages, access to opportunities, and promotion in the workplace were all investigated further. Our analysis indicates that many female employees earn less than men in comparable roles and organizations. The majority of participants in the FGDs attribute most of the disparity in remuneration to occupational segregation, education, and sociocultural attitudes. Some participants argued that men and women have equal chances of occupying supervisor/management roles in their firms, whereas access to opportunities and promotions is determined by individual competencies. However, even though some firms, particularly women-owned/managed firms, give equal opportunities for women to take on leadership roles, many female employees are being left behind despite their competencies and because of family demands. Even the competent women that qualify for opportunities and promotions are less likely to think they will get the promotion than the men with similar aspiration.

Some women have the belief that certain positions are designed for the men alone. They do not aspire to get there neither do they willingly accept the offer even when such opportunity comes their way. (Male FGD participant, Nigeria)

4.6.2.3 Control Over Their Own Time and Income

According to UNWomen, women’s economic empowerment includes women’s ability to exercise control over their time and income. Based on this premise, the case study explored the ability of women to exercise such control over their time and income from jobs within the trade sector. Evidence across Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria and Senegal shows that many factors contribute to the ability of women to decide on the use of their time and income. For instance, in Nigeria, some of the participants opined that “in a majority of cases, women often have to consult their husbands and sometimes other family members on what to spend their income on and how to spend the income”. Another male FGD participant from Nigeria opined that “many women do not have the liberty to decide on savings and investment from their earnings”.

Evidence from the Senegal case study reveals similarly trends of women not exercising absolute control over their income. A female FGD participant laments that “I use most of the salary received to meet the needs of the family, including children's schooling, household food, daily expenses…”. These experiences suggest a violation of women’s economic rights which upholds women’s right to work; the right to just and favorable conditions of work; the right to equal pay for equal work; the right to rest and leisure. In addition, having an independent income gives women better control and autonomy over their lives. In the case of Ghana, we found that most of the women exercise control over their time and income but such freedom is constrained by family obligations. Allowing women to have an independent income and the freedom to decide the use of their income is necessary for their empowerment. This could enhance their access to education, access to healthcare, investment in productive assets and improvement in their personal and household welfare. The ability of women to control their income could also make them better financially secured and make choices that improves their lives. In addition, women’s economic right goes beyond right to work. It encompasses rights to food, rights to housing and rights to adequate standard of living, all of which are dependent on their right to exercise control over their income.

4.6.2.4 Increased Voice and Meaningful Participation in Economic Decision-Making

Women empowerment is expected to facilitate the voice of women in decision making and improve women’s ability to negotiate better work conditions for themselves. Results from the FGDs and KIIs further speak to this issue. Our analysis assessed women’s ability to advocate for themselves, whether for new roles, new projects, promotions or raises in remuneration. It also assessed the ability of women to stand their ground and speak up for issues they feel strongly about. Most of the participants in the FGDs/KIIs, particularly the female employees, opined that they have limited opportunity to express their opinion and participate in decision-making at work. This suggests the opinion of the women may not be sought while decisions that affect their jobs are being taken by others.

Participants from Nigeria opined that some women lacked confidence in themselves and their abilities to voice their opinion, and majority of the participants noted that women rarely have the opportunity to negotiate for a raise in their income, demand payment for overtime or promotion at work. A female FGD participant mentioned that “most employers believe in top-down approach to decision making in the workplace. Even in issues that affect the workers welfare. We are only told what to do and what not to do after decisions have been taken by the management in our absence”. Evidence in the case of Madagascar further reveals that women have limited opportunity to express their opinion, but the manager often exercises the power of decision-making at work. In the case of Senegal, the narrative was different: the majority of the employees that participated in the FGDs confirmed that they are able to voice their opinion during staff meetings and make decisions according to their level of responsibility at their workplaces. The evidence in the case of Ghana was mixed. While the FGDs from Accra shows that the women employees generally have an opportunity to express their opinion and participate in decision-making at work, the FGDs from Kumasi show otherwise. For instance, a female FGD participant in Accra stated that “we are free to express our opinions at work regarding working conditions, products and participate in decision making at work”. Conversely, a female FGD participant in Kumasi stated that “I don’t usually have opportunity to express my opinion on certain issues. No prior notice before taking some decisions. For instance, management can move workers from my department to another department without prior notice”. The opinion of low participation of women in decision making in the workplace was shared by most of the participants from Kumasi.

The overarching evidence from the case studies shows that women rarely have the opportunity to participate meaningfully in decision making at their workplaces. This undermines the ability of women to speak up and ensure that their voice is heard over issues that affect their wellbeing and demand for better work conditions. Women need a stronger and significant voice in the workplace so that they can influence change and demand improved work conditions.

4.6.3 Effective Strategies and Policies to Enhance the Impact of Trade Sectors

Achieving gender equality in trade participation requires intentional policies and strategies from both the government and TSOs. According to the PESTLE analysis conducted earlier on the barriers to women participation in trade, it was found that women are faced with numerous challenges in trade participation that span across different factors such as institutional, economic, regulatory, cultural, and policy environments. This section presents the opinion of participants on these challenges and the right policies and strategies that will ensure increased participation. The themes that emerged under this question are grouped into two categories: recommended government policies and strategies needed from TSOs.

4.6.4 Recommended Government Policies

Popular opinions from participants in both the FGDs and KIIs point towards the government as the key actor required to provide the enabling environment for women owned businesses to thrive. The themes that emerged under this category are discussed below.

• Facilitation of access to information

Without the right information, no one can achieve a significant feat in any endeavor. On many occasions participants from Nigeria lamented the difficulty of obtaining the information they require to undertake some activities. Thus, access to information about programs and policies would serve a great purpose in supporting women and facilitate exports from women-led SMEs.

This was also similar in the case of Ghana. According to the participants from Accra, information problems are a key hindrance to trade, and they opined that most women-owned business do not have access to vital information that will help them export their products. It is suggested that agencies such as Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) and Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) who are into training of SMEs can be contacted to access information on exports. The participants further noted that information problems can also be solved by accessing the Business Resource Centers (BRCs) at the district levels especially with regards to registration of businesses. They acknowledged that although there are also Business Advisory Centers (BACs) and the Rural Enterprise Program that can be contacted by SMEs for advisory purposes, these agencies should be publicized for people to know their mandate and go to them for the needed support.

Madagascar on the other hand, appears to be making great progress in facilitating access to information for women. For instance, one of the government officials noted that within the Ministry of Trade, there is a National Competition Committee and a National Trade Facilitation Committee that aim to promote fair trade, facilitate access to information and avoid additional costs. She added that, currently, Madagascar is planning to set up a trade information portal, allowing all traders to have good visibility of trade procedures and operations. Another participant who is a business owner, speaking on the subject mentioned an association that was created to help women in general, and within which women are being supported to access information. Nonetheless, some participants felt that the government still needs to do more in helping women access key information required for exporting. Speaking on this, one of the participants was quite critical:

No, there is no such support. As strategies, it is important to inform women about exports, including training them on how to start a business, and assisting them with the procedures. Also, inform them about the potential of the export sector. It is also essential to guarantee their safety when collecting products in enclave areas. (FGD participant from Madagascar)

For the Senegal case, access to information was only subtly mentioned. It is as though this was not an issue in Senegal and the only recommendation was mentioned by one of the participants who felt that there is a need for the creation of information platforms on all levels (standards, access to financing, etc.). In summary, all the countries appear to be lagging in terms of helping women access the kind of information they need for trading. However, Madagascar seems to have taken reasonable steps towards addressing the information gap.

• Access to finance

Participants from Nigeria mentioned that there is a need for government to provide financial support, equipment and training for women-led SMEs, as well as reduce interest rates to make it cheaper and attractive for women to borrow money to invest in their businesses. For Senegal, the participants opined that although there are many organizations such as General Delegation for Rapid Entrepreneurship for Women and Young People (DER), National Agency for the Promotion of Youth Employment (ANPEJ), The Agency for the Development and Supervision of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (ADEPME), that support women with billions of FCFA, the impact is very low for women. To this end, the participants made recommendations aimed at integrating incentive measures into the project/policy indicators to promote the professional integration and development of women's SMEs. For example, accompany and support more SMEs owned by women than those owned by men (i.e., to require that 2/3 of the SMEs supported be owned by women). They also maintain that government must facilitate access to finance by reducing interest rates and creating bank guarantee funds.

In the case of Ghana, the participants noted that the cost of formalization of businesses including, a long process, cost of business registration, and certification as well as product certification pose a hindrance to trade. They thus suggested that the registration process should be decentralized to regions and district levels and the cost should be reduced or subsidized for women-owned businesses. They further added that since formalization is required for SMEs to source funding, women-owned businesses should be helped to formalize their businesses and products so as to be able to access funds from agencies such as the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), the Ghana Export and Import Bank (GH-EXIMBANK) and the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (NEIP) in order to export. Amongst many of the participants was a government official who noted the need for the government to partner with associations focused on SMEs to make funding available and accessible. She added that overlapping membership of SMEs in multiple associations just to access funds should be checked and the policy should also focus on manufacturing and production. Her final comments were for SMEs to be given the needed attention and funding, especially those into garments and textiles production, cosmetics production and food processing to improve exports. For the Madagascar case, the government officials who were part of the FGDs focused mainly on citing examples of support schemes available for women to access finance. While there was a consensus by the participants that access to finance is an important issue, arguments went in the direction that there are existing government support schemes for this. A surprising fact in the case of Madagascar is that only a few participants identified finance as a major constraint during the discussions. However, one speaker who believed that government should do more recommended that government establish a budget line for women entrepreneurs, and that the latter regroup and cooperate for wealth creation.

On several occasions, Madagascar being an exception, participants from the other countries have cited access to finance as their major constraint. When discussing the economic barriers to women participation in trade under the PESTLE framework, it was reported that the relatively high cost of starting a business in Africa and of trading is more than twice that in the OECD and East Asian countries. It was found that most African women lack sufficient credit facilities. In most parts of Africa, especially in Senegal and Nigeria, women are not allowed to own lands or inherit valuable property which puts them at greater disadvantage in obtaining loans from banks due to collateral requirements. In line with these, the participants recommended that the government should set up lower loan rates and guarantee funds by putting banks in competition. Further suggestions are to train women in financial management, education and leadership, and to change the approach to minimize the intermediaries. In summary, all the countries except Madagascar appear to have similar situations when it comes to access to finance. The three countries (Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal) seem to be lagging in supporting women to access finance.

• Reduction of corruption through increased supervision of intervention programs

While most participants acknowledge that there are intervention programs, they lament that these programs are often politicized. This is to say that there exists corruption in these systems which prevent women from participating in export markets. For example, in Senegal, participants emphasized the need to depoliticize state programs. According to them, the state programs are intended for the supporter of the ruling party and for the most part, few women benefit from them.

Participants also noted that it is essential to strengthen the consular chambers in the regions and establish trade centres. According to the participants, there is not much decentralization of support for SMEs. They proposed that support programs for SMEs be housed in chambers of commerce, consular services and trade sections with well-defined performance obligations and specifications. This would allow for proximity to SMEs. Politicization was also mentioned in Nigeria’s case, which rendered programs unfair and inequitable for women. In summary, it was evident from the responses received that Nigeria and Senegal have similar problems in terms of corrupt practices that affect women-led organizations. Madagascar and Ghana on the other hand seem not face these problems to the same extent.

• Provision of production/manufacturing infrastructure

Some industries require huge capital investments. As seen from country backgrounds in the earlier sections of this report, women are not able to raise the needed capital to purchase some of the equipment they need, especially in some industries such as clothing manufacturing which require huge investments in machinery. Findings in this study indicate that women are less likely to generate the financial resources than men due to their lower participation in economic activities. This necessitates a need for the government to provide these facilities and equipment at concessional terms. Speaking on this, some of the FGD participants from Nigeria mentioned that the government needs to assist in providing equipment to increase the production capacity of women-owned businesses. Other participants added that the Nigerian government should provide support, especially in the areas of infrastructure and equipment for production noting that some production equipment are expensive to buy. The discussion also mentioned that government agencies such as National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) are not doing enough for women and should thus provide more support for women owned businesses. In the case of Madagascar, participants noted that decentralization is still a real problem. The concerns were that all training opportunities are concentrated in the capital, while the coastal regions are full of economic potential. Thus, a need for more decentralization to reach the rural areas in the coastal region grassroots is needed.

Participants from Ghana made several recommendations. Firstly, they noted the need to invest in establishing processing centers to support women SMEs who may not have the needed capital to do it on their own, especially in food processing, and in packaging. They added that the aim is to access such equipment where they can process products to ensure they meet quality standards that will not be rejected when exported. Another recommendation was for women in agribusiness to be supported with access to lands. The participants also noted the need to facilitate Peer-to-Peer linkages, where women-led startups or small businesses can learn from the big or well-established ones.

Countries such as Nigeria and Ghana seem to have a need for the government to assist in the purchasing of equipment and provision of manufacturing infrastructure. Madagascar on the other hand is focused on decentralizing the support system to reach the grassroots. It seems as though these infrastructures are already in place in Madagascar but concentrated only in the capital cities. Participants from Senegal did not make much contribution on this theme and perhaps the provision of processing and manufacturing infrastructure was not seen as a problem. Although the government in these countries have been forthcoming in supporting women, partly due to the global movements targeted at reducing gender inequality, the major complaint from participants in Nigeria and Ghana is that efforts from the government need to be intensified. Some of the participants from Senegal did acknowledge the receipt of support from some structures such as National Agency for Agricultural and Rural Council (ANCAR) and Feed the Future Senegal (Kawolor project). But they emphasized that this is minimal in comparison to the type of support they require.

• Transparency and relaxation of some exporting requirements

There are several requirements attached to exporting which are not favorable to women. According to the PESTLE analysis of the barriers to women participation, it was found that women are more disadvantaged with regards to factors such as excessive trading documentation, long procedural filing and processes, difficulty in obtaining licenses and burden of taxes and tariffs which act together to hinder trading activities and increase production cost. These activities require investments in terms of time and due to household obligations, women are often overwhelmed in their pursuit of these regulations. In Nigeria, participants lamented the bureaucratic processes involved in exporting. This was similar for Senegal, as participants noted that the government should ease export rules and procedures (lower export taxes and flexibility in customs procedures) and promote the creation of a platform or framework for exchange (fairs, markets, etc.). In Ghana, heavy emphasis was also laid on the need for the government to reduce import duties on women led SMEs while in Madagascar participants decried the lack of full transparency in the systems, and the fact they are not built around helping women-led SMEs. In fact, one of the participants noted that there is already an existing cartel of exporters and if you do not belong, you cannot export. In summary, responses by participants in Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal point towards the reduction of exporting requirements, bureaucracy and export duties.

4.6.4.1 Recommendation for TSOs

Increasing women participation in trade requires collaborative efforts between the public sector and the private sector. TSOs have important roles to play in fostering policies that are needed to ensure that women-owned businesses and women-led organizations are supported. Many recommendations were put forward by the participants at the FGDs/KIIs with government officials and TSOs in Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria and Senegal. Some of the key roles that TSOs can play were discussed at the FGDs/KIIs and the findings are presented as follows.

• Capacity building for women

Participants from Nigeria called for support from TSOs in building the soft-skills of women in trade and women-led organizations. For instance, in Nigeria some of the women noted that while such support is available at the capital cities, awareness about it is low and very much inaccessible to women in trade in the rural areas. In addition to the social skills of women in business, TSOs could build the networking skills of women to address the challenge of acquiring new customers, trade partners and market information needed to trade across borders. In Ghana, it was mentioned that SMEs would benefit from support for doing proper documentation/certification, which are important for exports, as well as financial support and market access/linkages. Capacity building for women on international quality standards for exported products was mentioned in the case of Madagascar, as well as programs that promote creativity to encourage diversification of exports.

Capacity building for women-owned businesses to internationalize should be a key mandate of the TSOs. For example, women need to be trained on export strategies, standards, packaging, branding, and certification. Women engaged in trade also need capacity building in access and use of digital technology. Effective use of digital technologies by women in trade could facilitate access to new markets, promote remote work, build better interaction with customers, improve financial autonomy and increase access to finance.

• Creating more advocacy and more support packages for women-owned businesses

One key message for the TSOs from the FGD/KII participants is the need to amplify the voice of women in trade policies and negotiations. Many of the women see the TSOs as a conduit pipe to convey their concerns to government authorities and other stakeholders in pursuits of gender-sensitive trade reforms. Some of the participants expressed their concerns that the TSOs are currently not doing enough in representing the interest of women in business. The participants across Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria and Senegal identified the need for better advocacy by the TSOs. For example, many women are not aware of the AfCFTA and are not prepared to take advantage of its potential benefits, nor mitigate the challenges that may be associated with it.

• Strengthening association with women-owned businesses

Another way for TSOs to truly support women in trade is by associating closely with the women, particularly in the rural areas. Some FGD participants said that they do not know most of the TSOs operating within their environment and sector, while some said that the TSOs operate far from their location. The FGD/TSO participants also revealed that there are established local institutions across the trade sectors which TSOs could partner with to promote skills development for women in trade and women-led organizations.

4.7 Conclusion

The qualitative case studies in this chapter sought to complement the survey data (see Chapter 2) and further bridge the gap in knowledge on the nexus between trade and women economic empowerment by uncovering evidence on the dynamics of women in trade in Africa. The case studies adopted a multi-stakeholder approach involving owners and managers of SMEs, private and public sector actors and trade facilitation offices, such as business associations and chambers of commerce, and export promotion agencies especially those representing businesswomen and exporters. The stakeholders were identified across the study areas—Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria and Senegal.

Generally, we find that there are many factors that influence the creation of jobs for women across the trade sectors and some sectors are better positioned to provide employment for women. The cross-cutting factors include the nature of work in specific trade sectors, job demands in terms of physical strength and timing, and working conditions of employees in the sectors. Some of the factors are more pronounced in some countries. For instance, in Ghana, participants attributed the high employment of women in the service sector to fear of unhealthy competition and strenuous demand in the manufacturing sector. In Nigeria, it was revealed that jobs or sectors where there are regular requirements for overtime are not favorable for women that have family responsibilities as caregivers. In Senegal and Madagascar, more jobs are created for women in specific sectors such as the food processing and textile industries respectively.

The data gathered from the FGDs and KIIs shows that most jobs created within the trade sector for women are low skilled and do not contribute significantly to reducing inequality in women’s access to skills and education. Majority of the FGD/KII participants opined that the work environment, hours of work, health and safety standards, and overtime pay are not significantly different in firms that export in comparison to firms that do not export. The only exception was seen in the case of Ghana where work conditions in firms that export are quite different from firms that do not export. This marked difference was attributed to government regulations on certifications and work conditions in the export sectors. Furthermore, the findings shows that there are no marked income differentials between male workers and female workers. The qualitative research findings complement the survey finding that there are also no significant differences in salary by gender across all countries.

The settings of the FGDs which consist of women only FGDs and mixed (women and men) FGDs proved helpful in eliciting sincere responses from the participants. For instance, we observed that the women-only FGDs had a better atmosphere of confidence among the participants, an interaction filled with honesty, confidence, fluency, and full freedom to express their opinions. The findings from the FGDs provided novel insights on how women participation in trade is associated with their economic empowerment and it is noteworthy that services play an increasingly important role in job creation for women in the four countries. Joint effort by government and the private sector in improving women’s productivity in the service sector is required to close the gender gap and empower women, especially for the most vulnerable women in the rural areas.

While we also find that across the study areas trade has the potential to empower women, boost their income and improve their wellbeing, however, a number of challenges continue to impede women from maximizing gains from trade. Among the numerous challenges identified, it is clear that women are disproportionately employed in low-skilled jobs and have limited access to, and control over, productive resources. Without a strong public–private partnership between government agencies, women in trade, trade facilitation bodies and other key stakeholders, the benefits of trade in empowering women will remain a mirage.

Notes

• 1. It is important to mention that PESTLE is not a theory, but a framework used in diagnosing the external environment of a business entity. Thus, its adoption does not have any theoretical implications for the subject of this chapter.

• 2. Unless otherwise indicated, the data presented in this section is from the World Development Indicators Database, and the Poverty and Inequality Platform, both from the World Bank.

• 3. More information about the specific trade agreements can be accessed at: http://ptadb.wto.org/Country.aspx?code=686.