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Dr. Judith Fessehaie

Policy and Data Lead

SheTrades Initiative, International Trade Centre

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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is not gender neutral.

Past economic downturns have shown, women-owned businesses are less likely to receive support.

Most developing countries will struggle to set up emergency funding programmes for small companies to provide grants, loans and tax relief, redundancy disbursements and sick pay

Women owned business more likely to shut as they tend to fall in the micro and small category –20% MSMEs may not survive the next three months, SMECO 2020

Women more likely to bear the brunt of job losses as they are in vulnerable sectors

Women have more difficulty getting paid work after crises, and in many countries women do not have recourse to social safety nets as they are in informal/casual employment

COVID19 will accelerate digitalization of the economy, digital gender divide means a more challenging recovery path

The impacts of COVID-19 on women entrepreneurs

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SheTrades Outlook: Nigeria’s Policy Ecosystem for Women in Trade

Domestic markets: Gender-responsive public procurement SheTrades Commonwealth: Compete and Connect in a time of crisis

Regional markets:

SheTrades AfCFTA – Recommendations for trade in services

Concluding remarks

Outline of Presentation

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Policy Ecosystem: SheTrades Outlook

• An online tool that provides quantitative and qualitative data on trade and women’s economic empowerment

• 80% new data collected through an institutional survey, complemented with existing data

• Tool’s framework comprises 83 indicators

across 6 policy pillars

• Indicators take account of multiple aspects of

the policy ecosystem

• The tool does not provide a ranking of countries

performance

• Objective is to expand coverage globally

• Available on www.shetrades.com

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How can SheTrades Outlook be used?

• Access mapping of the key institutions and policies that matter for

women in trade

• Access and share good practices

• Compare the data across countries

• Monitor progress over time

• Impact the ecosystem for women in trade

• Prioritising areas for reform

• Identifying where new programmes/TA is needed

• Undertake research

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SheTrades Outlook highlights

• 25 developing and developed countries

• 1400 stakeholders consulted

• 500 institutions mapped

• 83 indicators on trade and gender

• Methodology and concept notes

• 50+ good practices

• Three step by step guides –

• Gender-responsive public procurement

• Gender-responsive FTAs

• Gender-responsive trade and SME development policies

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SheTrades Outlook Nigeria

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Trade Policy Pillar

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Access to Skills Pillar

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Business Environment Pillar

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Gender-responsive Public Procurement

ITC 4 Steps Guide 1. Assess current situation 2. Design a roadmap 3. Make it happen 4. Monitor progress

• Federal Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Development

• NEPC • ITC Policy Dialogue - January 2020

• Support amending the current legislation. • Support creating a preferential policy in the

meantime

COVID19 increases significance of public procurement markets

• Ambitious targets • Subcontracting opportunities for women-

owned businesses

• Late payments and/or risk of non-payment • Disproportionate financial requirements • Disproportionate quality requirements • Costly industry standards and certifications • Track record needed • Closed market by framework agreements

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SheTrades Commonwealth in Nigeria - NEPC

Face to face and online trainings • 2020 digital marketing and ecommerce courses B2B • Japan IT Week 2019 • Nigeria Com 2019 • 2020 West Africa Com: virtual connection to regional telecom markets Partnership with Microsoft • coaching sessions • individuals become long-term mentees Coaching • 2020 artificial intelligence and machine learning • One-on-one, highly customized program focused on product development and

refinement, as well as enhance data collection and processing

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New analysis: Joint policy brief with ICC, W20 and UPS

Robust online platform: shetrades.com enabled continued delivery of support, 250% increase in users

New online content: webinar series with UPS, VISA and Maersk to help WOBs

navigate the crisis

New Tool: Crisis Management Toolkit based on a resilience and recovery action plan (RRAP) to strengthen contingency planning

Financing: refocused SheTrades Invest towards sectors most critical to recovery

New product lines: support to beneficiaries to diversify production

New B2B approach: first virtual trade fair for fresh produce industry United Fresh live

SheTrades COVID 19 Response

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• Gender equality is recognized as essential to achieving goals under Agenda 2063, SDGs, and the AfCFTA

• AfCFTA presents the potential to : • Accelerate intra-African trade • Boost Africa’s share of global trade • Create the second-largest free trade area since the formation of the WTO • Reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers across 107 borders and 50 + states involved

• Three major challenges stand in the way:

1. Scarce technical and policy knowledge on leveraging AfCFTA for women’s economic empowerment

2. Low engagement of women’s business associations in AfCFTA processes; 3. Need for high-level political leadership to follow through with the gender equality goal enshrined in the AfCFTA.

SheTrades AfCFTA

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• Created 6 policy briefs on trade facilitation, non-tariff barriers, standards,

trade in services, ICTs and digital trade, and strengthening WBAs (in French

and English)

• Gathered more than 50 Women’s Business Associations across Africa,

sectoral experts, and representatives from regional economic communities,

for stakeholder discussion in November 2019

• Devised 44 recommendations to ensure the AfCFTA works for women

• Formed building blocks for an operational network of almost 1 million

women continent-wide

• Created a self-assessment tool for capacity-building on institution-

strengthening

• Collaboration with AUC, UNECA, WIPO, Tralac and selected WBAs to

create additional content for women

Results so far

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0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Has your organization beeninvolved in information

sessions on the AfCFTA?

Has your organisation beenconsulted on the negotiationand implementation of theAfCFTA (eg. requested tosubmit position papers)?

Has your organisation everbeen consulted on the

negotiation and/orimplementation of any free

trade agreement in the past 5years?

No Yes N/A

Pre-Workshop Survey Post-Workshop Evaluations

“Thanks for sharing the recommendations, we

wish to continue working with you

as we are left behind in most African women

activities.”

-WBA Representative, South Sudan

“I appreciate your endeavours to continue putting

together programs that will enhance our

capacities and facilitate trading among women.

Thank you so much. Looking forward to

upcoming activities.”

- WBA Representative, Togo

“It is good to create an awareness, creation and

capacity building on AfCFTA.”

- WBA Representative-Ethiopia

Impact

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Trade in services under AfCFTA: Recommendations

• Training and capacity building of women entrepreneurs on the Trade

in Services Protocol under AfCFTA

• Participation of women entrepreneurs in national/regional/continental

committees and working groups on trade in services

• Establishment of a national network of information on trade in

services

• Realization of promotional workshops for women entrepreneurs on the

information network on trade in services

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SheTrades AfCFTA

• Substantial specific commitments in the service sectors where women

entrepreneurs are very active

• Opening of Mode 4 (free movement of persons)

• Development of mutual recognition agreements in the few

professional services sectors at the continental level, drawing on the

experience of the RECs

• Development of African standards and upgrading in the service

sectors of interest for women entrepreneurs

• Making substantial specific commitments in the provision of bank loan

services, payment means services (bank cards, virtual currency, etc.)

• Establishment of quotas for women entrepreneurs in procurement

service contracts

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Concluding remarks

• Multi-prolonged strategy:

• Domestic public procurement markets

• Regional markets

• Need for better market intelligence on reconfiguration of industries

and value chains:

• Near-shoring

• Mechanization

• New customer profiles

• Digitalisation, e-commerce

• Buyer- supplier cooperation

• Monitor uptake of women entrepreneurs of govt packages

• Multilateral cooperation: WTO and beyond

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SheTrades Funders

@ITCnews

@ITCSheTrades

womenandtrade@intracen.org

www.shetrades.com

@internationaltradecentre

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