NEWS– The Head of Markets and Trade at Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Nega Wubeneh has highlighted that their research has revealed that young agri-food traders frequently face Non Tarrif Barriers such as SPS/food safety standards, certificates of origin, import levies and road user charges.
Wubeneh made the remarks while speaking at the Opening Session of the East Africa Cross-Border Trader Associations Forum on Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), organized by East African Business Council (EABC) in partnership with Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) going on in Nairobi Kenya.
He emphasized the crucial role of Youth and Cross-Border Trader Associations (CBTAs) in reporting and advocating for Non Tarrif Barriers elimination and reaffirmed Alliance for Green Revolution Africa’s commitment to catalyzing food systems transformation to improve food and nutrition security through investments in Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs), the regional food balance sheet, trade scorecard and market information systems.
While speaking on behalf of the Adrian Njau, Acting Executive Director of East African Business Council Adrian Njau, the Manager for Trade in Goods, Frank Dafa elaborated that Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)—largely driven by women and youth and form the backbone of the East African Community (EAC) economy, contributing an estimated 70% to the region’s GDP and provide livelihoods to 88% of its population.
He noted that the East African Community Simplified Trade Regime (STR) has eased access to the simplified certificate of origin for consignments below US 2,000 dollars, however, many traders, especially women and youth continue to face challenges in meeting technical and sanitary requirements, notably due to costly and duplicative certification processes.
In her remarks, a youth cross-border trader from Rwanda, Ms Sakina Usengimana, stated that youth are central partners in East Africa’s trade future, however, non-tariff barriers such as duplicated certification requirements, unclear trade documentation and inconsistent standards across East African Community countries, discourage many youth-led businesses from scaling regionally.
Ms Usengimana called for the simplification of trade information and improved access to finance tailored for youth in business.
However, Dafa further called on East African Community Partner State Governments to simplify and reduce the cost of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) certifications for small-scale traders, with special focus on women and youth.
He also lauded the recent decision by the Government of the Republic of Kenya to eliminate the 25% excise tax on eggs, onions and potatoes in the 2025 Finance Bill, stating that this measure is expected to boost intra-regional trade, particularly benefiting youth and women cross-border traders, farmers and enhancing food security.
Ms Violet Chebet Mastamet who represented the Principal Secretary of the State Department for East African Community Affairs, acknowledged that EAC policy organs are actively working to address challenges facing women and youth traders.
She explained that these efforts include the review of the East African Community Non Tarrif Barriers Elimination Act, 2017, the simplification of customs procedures under the East African Community Single Customs Territory, the implementation of gender-responsive trade policies tailored to the needs of women and youth and infrastructure improvements and targeted capacity building for Medium and Small Enterprises at One Stop Border Posts.
The panel session on Cross-Border Trade and the Role of Trade Facilitation Agencies highlighted key challenges faced by women and youth traders and outlined proposals to seize the opportunities of the East African Community Common Market, which comprises over 200 million consumers.
The proposals included the need for whistleblower protection mechanisms in cases of sexual harassment, corruption and reporting of non-tariff barriers, improved access to simplified customs procedures through user-friendly digital tools/technologies such as video animations, the elimination of unjustified trade bans and the adoption of national identity cards by all East African Community Partner States as official travel documents.
Additional recommendations focused on enhancing access to contracts and due diligence tools, promoting border to border (B2B) engagements and also emphasized the need for targeted support to youth-led agri-food export initiatives such as profiling women and youth traders to offer tailored training, finance and investments options.
The panelists included Women Cross-Border Trader from Tanzania Ms Joyce Ndosi, Youth Cross-Border Trader from Uganda Ms Sanyu Alice, Youth Cross-Border Trader from Burundi Ms Liliane Rugigana, Youth Cross-Border Trader from Rwanda Ms Berthe Uwanyirigira, Youth Cross-Border Trader from Kenya Ms Judith Ngerechi, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) represented by Ms Phylis Githaiga, State Department for East African Community, Kenya represented by Ms Violet Chebet and Charles Korir from the Kenya Revenue Authority.
The session was moderated by Isaac Gokah, Specialist for Regional Food Trade and Resilience at Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.
The two-day forum is expected to co-develop an advocacy roadmap for the elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) and establish a dedicated Cross-Border Traders NTB Working Group to enhance coordination and amplify the voices of youth and women traders across the region.
