Content Production Agency to Document HerAfCFTA Regional Conference.Closed

Content Production Agency to Document HerAfCFTA Regional Conference. Content Production Agency to Document HerAfCFTA Regional Conference. The HerAfCFTA Programme HerAfCFTA is an initiative stemming from UNDP's renewed strategic focus on Africa, leveraging inter-African trade as a key mechanism for poverty reduction, job creation, and increasing foreign exchange. The success of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) ultimately depends on whether it delivers benefits to all engaged economic actors. Broadly, significant implementation gaps persist, including inconsistent implementation of commitments, persistent non-tariff barriers, and market information asymmetries. These challenges are amplified for women and youth, two groups central to Africa's economic transformation. Women account for approximately 70% of informal cross-border traders across Africa, and more than half of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises that form the bulk of the private sector are women-led or women-owned. To address their unique considerations, African Union member States in 2024 adopted a dedicated AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade. With the adoption of this Protocol, there is a strategic opportunity to reflect on the early stages of trade under AfCFTA terms – to design a beneficial direction for women in Africa's trade. To maximise the moment, UNDP and partners will host the first regional HerAfCFTA Conference 2026, as a strategic platform to design key strategic actions and models of cooperation that ensures the AfCFTA yields benefit for all, and especially for women and youth. This Conference will build on the successes and learnings of the HerAfCFTA Initiative launched by Ahunna Eziakonwa, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa and HE Wamkele Mene, the Secretary General, AfCFTA Secretariat in 2023. This Initiative combines policy advocacy, technical assistance, and market access programmes to position women and youth entrepreneurs as key drivers and beneficiaries of cont... Documents available on UNDP Quantum portal: https://undp.sharepoint.com/sites/Docs-Public/Procurement/Forms/AllItems.aspx?env=Embedded&isAscending=false&FilterType1=Text&sortField=Modified&FilterField1=NegotiationNumber&FilterValue1=UNDP-NGA-01448,1