Closing of the third edition of the information and awareness campaign for small-scale cross-border women traders in Lagos

On the 11^th of July 2025, the closing ceremony of the third edition of the Information and Awareness Campaign for small-scale cross-border women traders was held in Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria. This initiative, led by ECOWAS, aims to strengthen the capacities of women traders operating along the Abidjan–Lagos corridor.

The opening ceremony was attended by several dignitaries, including the ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs, Professor Fatou Sow Sarr, the Commissioner for Trade, Cooperatives and Investment, Honourable Mrs. Folashade Kaosarat Bada Ambrose, and the Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Chinyere Almona, FCA.

In her speech, Commissioner Fatou Sow Sarr recalled that the focus on small-scale women traders followed the adoption, in 2015, by the ECOWAS Conference of Heads of State, of the Gender and Trade Action Plan. This plan “is, first of all, in line with the spirit of the Revised ECOWAS Treaty, which advocates the creation of a market and a free trade area within the Community. Secondly, it is a response to the various issues and challenges related to the contribution of women, particularly those engaged in informal trade between Member States along the various corridors,” emphasized Commissioner Fatou Sow Sarr.

She also urged everyone, at the local, national, and regional levels, to work to ensure that the needs of these women are taken into account in the responses and solutions aimed at facilitating and strengthening trade between the various States.

For her part, the Honourable Commissioner for Trade, Cooperatives and Investment, Mrs. Folashade Kaosarat Bada Ambrose, praised “the initiative supported by the joint commitment of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and regional governments, including Nigeria, as a direct response to a pressing need: to equip and empower our women, who constitute the majority of traders along the corridor.”

“This awareness campaign must therefore serve as a bridge between policy and practice. It must translate regional agreements into daily understanding. More importantly, it must create ecosystems in which women traders are trained, supported and organized to operate confidently in a regulated, transparent and fair environment,” declared Dr. Chinyere Almona, FCA.

As a reminder, this edition of the caravan, launched on 30 June 2025 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, by the Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Mrs. Massandjé Touré-Litsé, is part of the celebration of ECOWAS’s golden jubilee. Like previous campaigns, enabled the dissemination of information and raised awareness among small-scale cross-border women traders on various regional texts relating to cross-border trade so that they can take ownership of them. This campaign also provided these women with essential information for the development of future appropriate projects and programmes that meet the requirements of cross-border trade in West Africa in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).