200 small scale women traders are set to benefit from a safe trade zone market space
Addis Ababa, October 20, 2022: Hundreds of traders cross the border between Kenya and Ethiopia in Moyale, usually under the scorching sun. They bring their items in the morning to set up shop on open-air grounds and ferry the same back home in the evening. The weather conditions may remain the same, but the trading environment is set to change. Today, with support from TradeMark Africa (TMA), the local administration held a ground-breaking ceremony marking the start of the construction of a Safe Trade Zone marketplace on the Ethiopian side. The Market will house 200 small-scale women traders from Moyale who sell vegetables and dairy and are currently trading in open-air spaces with no safety, hygiene, or sanitation facilities.
The European Union-Intergovernmental Authority on Development (EU-IGAD) and Irish Aid has funded construction of the Market
As a permanent building, the structure will be fully furnished with sanitation facilities, market stalls, water systems, solar system, cold storage equipment, prayer room, breastfeeding room, and a power room. Providing elements of social safety systems, such as breast-feeding rooms, will help young female traders to focus on their business and not worry about bringing their children to work.
The market will act as an entry point for provision of training to targeted women traders and a catalyst to facilitate business integration amongst the border communities. To provide a wholistic solution and complement the physical space, TMA will work with local administrative officials to provide business skills and entrepreneurship training as well as hygiene and sanitation training for food safety. The trainings will build the women’s ability to not only scale their businesses, but also successfully manage the market.
TradeMark Africa designed the concept of Safe Trade Zones at the height of COVID-19, in efforts to provide safe trading spaces that adhered to health protocols – such as physical distancing- therefore giving cross border traders platforms to continue with their businesses. So far, these markets have been constructed at Kenya’s Busia border, South Sudan’s Nimule Border, and Ethiopia and Somaliland’s Tog Wajaale border. They have become a critical component of COVID-19 economic recovery measures targeting cross border women traders. A TMA and UNECA research established that Women traders businesses recorded losses of over 90% when Covid 19 first hit; targeted recovery support is therefore essential.
Speaking at the event, TMA Ag. Country Director Abenet Bekele, said “This is the second safe trade zone market that we will be building in Ethiopia, having installed the first one at Tog Wajaale. It is part of our work targeting women cross border traders, as we support the Government of Ethiopia to enable traders recover from the impacts of COVID-19. We are confident that the marketplaces will help the traders stabilise, while providing safe shopping spaces for the hundreds of people who come to shop every day.”
