Empowering Women Traders: ECOWAS Launches Third Awareness Campaign In Lomé
In a bold move to boost regional integration and empower women in trade, ECOWAS has officially launched the Lomé stage of its Third Edition of the Information and Awareness Campaign for small-scale cross-border traders along the Abidjan-Lagos corridor.
Held at the prestigious Hôtel 2 Février in Togo’s capital, the event brought together key stakeholders from across the region, including Professor Kossiwa Zinsou-Klasso, Minister for Social Action, Solidarity and the Advancement of Women.
The campaign, now in its third year, builds on earlier successes from the Tema-Paga and Dakar-Banjul-Bissau corridors, aiming to make trade smoother and more inclusive—especially for women.
Designed to equip small traders with vital knowledge of ECOWAS trade policies and tools, the initiative highlights community strategies such as the Regional Programme for the Integration of Agricultural Markets (PRIMA) and the ITC-developed toolkit on border transparency and combating gender-based violence.
The event also served as a platform to mark ECOWAS’ golden jubilee and reaffirm its commitment to a people-centred vision of regional cooperation.
Representatives from the Togolese government, ECOWAS institutions, trade associations, and financial partners pledged continued support for women-led agri-food cross-border trade.
As ECOWAS shifts from a “Community of States” to a “Community of People,” campaigns like this bring the bloc’s vision of peace and prosperity by 2050 one step closer to reality.
