In the frontier town of Moyale, nestled along the Kenya-Ethiopia border, women traders navigate not just harsh terrain and complex logistics, but deeply entrenched social barriers that choke their ambitions before they even begin.

Despite their resilience, female entrepreneurs in Kenya and across Africa continue to face disproportionate obstacles when it comes to exporting or importing goods beyond their borders.

These challenges, ranging from bias at Customs to gender-insensitive trade policies, have left many women-led firms struggling in a marketplace that still favours men.

“We call on the governments and other policy makers to craft strong, inclusive strategies for women in international trade,” pleads Asna Hussein, chairperson of the Moyale Women Business Community.

Hussein is one of the few women in Moyale daring to challenge the status quo. Her group is one of just four women-led exporting clusters in the region, each with barely eight members.

In stark contrast, more than 20 men-led exporting outfits flourish, enjoying better access to funding, networks, and logistics support.

Women entrepreneurs aiming to export face more than just red tape. The journey is peppered with hurdles uniquely tailored by gender bias: lengthy border clearances, harassment by Customs officials and time-consuming documentation procedures.

For women juggling household responsibilities, these logistical demands create an almost insurmountable barrier.

Glaring disparity

Most women cannot afford to go it alone. Exporting cereals or vegetables at a competitive level to Ethiopia, for instance, demands a starting capital of at least Ksh2 million.

To raise that amount, they must form cooperatives, pooling resources in a bid to punch through the glass ceiling of cross-border trade.

Only 1 in 5 women-led firms in Africa serve a customer base outside their national boundaries, according to recent trade assessments.

This gender export gap is often attributed to the relatively small size of female-led enterprises, which are particularly vulnerable to non-transparent and convoluted trade procedures.

“We lack access to business development services, and cultural biases restrict our ability to get the skills we need for planning, marketing, and management,” Hussein laments.

At the Comesa Trade Information Desk in Moyale, officer Ahmed Ali agrees that the disparity is glaring.

“Women entrepreneurs are still heavily constrained by stereotypes, even though some are now breaking through, thanks to growing social networks,” he tells People Daily.

Ali believes the solution lies in gender-prioritised trade negotiations. Female-led sectors must be spotlighted, he says, during regional market access talks.

Policy reform, financial inclusion, and social safety nets like parental leave are all essential to empower women economically and make trade more accessible.

He adds that efficient border processes, through automation, transparency and inter-agency cooperation, could reduce trade costs by over 10 per cent for Comesa countries, with smaller businesses benefiting the most.

Patricia Karani, director of Tullia Tea and representative of the COMESA Federation of National Associations of Women in Business (COMFWB) Kenya Chapter, paints a broader picture.

She highlighted how non-tariff barriers, hidden costs and regulations are the main culprits discouraging African women exporters.

According to Karani, many Comesa member States have yet to implement gender-equality provisions in trade agreements, despite international commitments through the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Most existing trade policies target SMEs, but few are explicitly gender-responsive.

“They may say they support women, but when it comes to actual trade, exports, border facilitation—they’re vague or silent,” Karani observes.

The Federation of Women Entrepreneurs of Kenya (FOWEK), led by President Vicky Karuga, is focusing on promoting female-led ventures as engines of social and economic development. Since its launch in October 2023, FOWEK has rallied behind the idea that investing in women yields exponential community returns.

“When you empower a woman entrepreneur, you empower an entire village,” Karuga says.

Women’s inclusion, she emphasises, is vital towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 5 on Gender equality, 6 (Clean water and sanitation), and 7 (Clean energy access).

At a November 2024 Comesa breakfast hosted at Nairobi’s Serena Hotel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Director Catherine Kithinji urged women to join FOWEK and tap into Comesa programmes, including regional value chains, digital trade and the blue economy.

Poor connectivity

Comesa is betting big on RECAMP (Regional Enterprise Competitiveness and Access to Markets Programme) to drive female participation in regional and global value chains.

Meanwhile, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is beginning to show promise.

Ngosa Chibale, export manager at Zambia Sugar Company, supports AfCFTA’s protocols for youth and women inclusion but criticises the lack of infrastructure, especially direct flights—that hinders intra-African trade.

“We’ve got buyers in Mauritius and Burundi, but no direct flights. A simple sugar shipment becomes a logistical nightmare,” he says.

Similar frustrations were voiced by Kasolo Mwamba, CEO of Enterprise Limited, which manufactures military shoes in Zambia.

Like many, his dream to export is crushed under the weight of poor regional connectivity.

In May 2025, EU delegates visited Moyale’s One-Stop Border Point and reiterated their support for Comesa’s trade ambitions.

The EU’s Ksh7.4 billion funding for Comesa’s Trade Facilitation Programme is expected to drive infrastructure development and institutional reform, with a special focus on empowering women traders.

During the Comesa 23rd Summit hosted by Burundi, Secretary-General Chileshe Kapwepwe listed the usual suspects blocking Africa’s trade corridors: poor roads, erratic electricity, inadequate equipment, and lack of a regional currency.

Comesa Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB) President Soatiana Rajoelisa hailed the Comesa Regional Fair in Burundi as a beacon for women entrepreneurs. The fair sponsored female participants from across Africa to exhibit products, network, and grow.

COMFWB’s training hubs and incubators are helping women transition from micro to major players in Africa’s trading ecosystem.

Research backs what these women are living through. According to the International Trade Centre, women face tougher odds due to their unpaid care responsibilities and poorer access to finance.

A 2021/2022 GEM Women’s Entrepreneurship Report noted that women are 24 per cent more likely to remain in domestic markets compared to men.

Even the World Trade Organisation is catching up. In December 2021, 67 countries adopted the Joint Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation, which, for the first time, enshrined gender non-discrimination in trade.

Similarly, the Global Trade and Gender Arrangement (2020), initially signed by Canada, Chile, and New Zealand—has expanded to include Mexico, Colombia, and Peru, forming a platform for countries to share gender-inclusive trade practices.

Back in Moyale, Asna Hussein remains undeterred. Though the journey is steep, she believes that change, however slow, is coming. Women, she says, aren’t asking for handouts; they want fair ground to play on.

“We’re not less capable. Just less supported.”

If Africa is to truly unlock its trade potential, it must dismantle the invisible walls rooted in stereotypes, outdated policies, and uneven infrastructure—that continue to hold back half its population.

Because when women trade, nations thrive.