WITAD contributes to national trade reforms
ACCELERATING the participation of women in cross-border trade is becoming a central priority for the local economic growth.
To advance this national agenda, Women in Trade and Development (WITAD) participated in the Gender Mainstreaming Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting held this past Wednesday.
The high-level session, hosted at the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) Headquarters in Ezulwini, brought together critical public and private sector trade actors to review institutional reforms and align the country's border operations with inclusive, gender-responsive frameworks.
WITAD was represented at the technical meeting by Thembela Msibi and Ezrah Mkhabela. As an active member of this National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) working group, WITAD’s participation ensures that the unique experiences, operational hurdles and economic interests of grassroots women traders are directly integrated into local formal trade policies.
THE GENDER DIMENSIONS OF TRADE
A primary focus of Wednesday's meeting was the operationalisation of recommendations from the Gender Dimensions of Trade Facilitation in the country report published by the World Bank last year.
This diagnostic study brought to light stark, empirical disparities between male and female traders at the country’s border posts.
According to the data, women-led firms are heavily concentrated in highly restricted commodity sectors, with 44% trading in animal and vegetable products and 33% in textiles and footwear sectors frequently burdened by complex rules of origin and ‘pink tariffs’.
The report also revealed a substantial gap in regulatory literacy and trade volumes.
Only 41% of women cross borders more than once a month, compared to 59% of men. Crucially, while detention rates are similar across genders, twice as many women traders experience severe border delays lasting more than five days.
This friction is primarily caused by customs classification and valuation errors (70%) and difficulties securing required import/export permits (39%).
Furthermore, a staggering 96% of women traders remain completely unaware of trade facilitation measures like the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) program which offers fasttracked border clearance.
ADDRESSING BORDER SAFETY AND OPERATIONAL RISKS
The TWG session moved from data analysis to reviewing the strategic plan for Phase 2 of the Gender Mainstreaming initiative. Stakeholders openly addressed structural vulnerabilities impacting women-owned Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
The report highlighted severe dissatisfaction with physical border infrastructure specifically pointing to unhygienic or missing toilet blocks, poor weather shelters and a lack of internet connectivity. Moreover, deep-rooted structural risks were identified including the inconsistent enforcement of regulations due to the constant rotation of border officials and the widespread underreporting of harassment. Fear of administrative retaliation and official victimisation causes women to actively avoid formal complaint mechanisms. To combat the ‘elite capture’ where trade consultations disproportionately favor large corporate actors, the WITAD delegation advocated for institutionalised feedback loops for informal market chairs, anonymous mobile-based grievance routing and tying gendersensitivity metrics directly to the annual performance reviews of border station managers.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT WITH WITAD’S 2025–2030 ROADMAP
The objectives of the Gender Mainstreaming TWG seamlessly align with the WITAD Strategic Plan 2025–2030 and the broader United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2026–2030 for Eswatini. A major target within WITAD’s strategic framework is the formalization of 70% of supported informal micro-businesses and linking at least 50% of them directly to international export markets.
As the country advances towards Coordinated Border Management (CBM) and a comprehensive Business Process and Legislative Analysis by December 2026, WITAD’s seat at the table guarantees that gender mainstreaming remains a binding policy requirement. By utilising the newly available NTFC reporting template for gender-related trade activities, WITAD will ensure that the findings of the World Bank report are transformed into actionable programmes, ensuring that the talent within local rural corridors is professionalised, protected, and integrated into global trade value chains.
ABOUT THE NTFC
The Gender Mainstreaming Technical Working Group operates under the broader structural authority of the National Trade Facilitation Committee. The historical context of this body dates back to 2013, when World Trade Organization (WTO) members, including Eswatini, concluded the landmark Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). Eswatini ratified the TFA in 2016 and the agreement officially entered into force globally in February 2017. In compliance with Article 23.2 of the WTO TFA, which mandates member states to establish a national mechanism for domestic coordination and implementation, the Eswatini NTFC was approved by Cabinet in February 2019 and its permanent secretariat was gazetted in November 2019. Accountable directly to Cabinet under the guidance of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Investment, the NTFC is co-chaired by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Trade, the Eswatini Revenue Service and Business Eswatini to lower transaction costs and minimise cross-border bottlenecks.