大象传媒

After years of planning and delays, Africa鈥檚 new trade bloc, the African Continental Free Trade Area, opened in January with the promise of transforming the continent鈥檚 economies. Amandla Ooko-Ombaka of McKinsey and Company in Nairobi explains the enormous poverty-reducing potential the bloc represents. But some are calling for the agreement鈥檚 terms to more directly benefit women, by helping facilitate trade in their wares across borders. Caroline Gethi of the Organisation of Women in International Trade and Gloria Atuheirwe of Trademark East Africa say the agreement hasn't gone far enough to promote gender equality, and that it as yet doesn鈥檛 even recognise the role of women in informal trade which is the backbone of Africa鈥檚 economies.

Producer: Frey Lindsay

(Image credit: Getty Images.)