MTWW Launches in Nigeria to Advance Safer, More Inclusive Trade for Women

The Making Trade Work for Women (MTWW) project was officially launched in Nigeria in Lagos on 29 October, bringing together government representatives, regional institutions, development partners, the private sector and women’s trade associations to advance practical solutions to the barriers facing women in cross-border commerce.

LAGOS, Nigeria, 05 November 2026 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/ – African Newspage is the official media partner of the launch of the The Making Trade Work for Women (MTWW) project in Nigeria.

Implemented by the Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) in partnership with TradeMark Africa (TMA), with funding from the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada, MTWW is a six-year regional initiative (2024–2030) covering Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo. The initiative’s delivery in West Africa is supported by Africa International Trade and Commerce Research (AITCR), as the lead implementing partner.

It seeks to strengthen women traders’ rights and security, support their associations and networks, and promote gender-responsive trade policies.
Women account for 71 per cent of traders along key regional corridors, while 89 per cent of working women operate in the informal economy. In Nigeria, 91 per cent of women respondents in a survey of small-scale border traders reported exposure to demands for facilitation payments at border posts—evidence of the costs and risks that continue to undermine women’s participation in regional markets.

Kwamina Ekremet, Country Director for Ghana and Anglophone West Africa at TradeMark Africa, said the priority was to make formal trade systems work for women and respond to the realities of their businesses*.“Our challenge, therefore, is not simply to encourage women to trade formally. It is to make formal trade accessible, affordable, predictable and worthwhile. That is the purpose of Making Trade Work for Women,”* Ekremet said.

Sandu Mbakalu, Executive Director of the Africa International Trade and Commerce Research and Regional Coordinator of MTWW, said the project would work across the Abidjan–Lagos and Tema–Ouagadougou corridors to improve the systems that shape women’s trading experiences. “What we are trying to do is to improve the systems to make trade more inclusive, safer and dignified for women trading across these corridors. This project intends to regularize and make trading easier for women across these corridors,” Mba-Kalu said.

Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to an enabling policy and regulatory environment, emphasizing that the project’s success would depend on coordinated action by public institutions, border agencies and women’s trade associations.

“A project of this magnitude cannot succeed in isolation. Its success rests upon the collective ownership of regulatory bodies, the Customs, trade institutions and women’s trade associations. The Ministry remains deeply committed to providing an adequate regulatory framework and ensuring transparency at every tier of implementation,” Oduwole said.

MTWW aims to directly benefit 80,000 people, at least 70 per cent of them women, indirectly benefit a further 20,000 traders and reach more than 50,000 people through sensitisation. Its intended outcomes include a 40 per cent increase in participating women’s incomes and a 50 per cent increase in the number of women traders adopting sustainable practices.

By improving border safety, access to information and finance, business capacity and the policy environment, MTWW seeks to help translate the promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) into tangible opportunities for women-led businesses across West Africa.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of MTWW

**MEDIA ENQUIRIES
**Brice Adou, Program Lead, Making Trade Work for Women Project | Email: [email protected]

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