For women-led businesses, accessing regional markets requires more than a quality product. Traders must understand how to formalise their businesses, meet product standards, complete export documentation, navigate customs procedures and connect with buyers. Without this knowledge and institutional support, enterprises can face higher costs, delays and missed commercial opportunities.
Forty women traders and exporters from across Ethiopia gathered in Bishoftu on 30-31 July 2026 for a two-day export-readiness workshop designed to address these challenges.
The workshop directly contributed to the inclusive trade objective of the Promoting Regional Economic Integration in the Horn of Africa through the Development of the Djibouti Corridor Programme: increasing the capacity of targeted women traders to participate in trade. The €32 million programme is financed by the European Union under Global Gateway, with funding delegated to Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and implemented by TradeMark Africa (TMA) in partnership with the Governments of Ethiopia and Djibouti.
Although delivered in Ethiopia, the workshop formed part of a two-country approach to ensuring that women traders and entrepreneurs in Ethiopia and Djibouti could benefit from improved corridor connectivity, trade facilitation and regional market integration.
The Djibouti-Ethiopia Corridor is a critical trade channel supporting the objectives of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, which is delivered through a Team Europe approach. The programme combines infrastructure investment with trade-facilitation measures intended to reduce the time and cost of moving goods along the corridor. These include stronger corridor governance, digital trade systems such as electronic phytosanitary certification, regulatory reforms, technical assistance and capacity development. The workshop complemented these reforms by equipping women-led businesses to use improved systems and connectivity to pursue regional market opportunities.
Participants represented the Addis Ababa and Oromia Women Traders’ Associations, the Ethiopian Women Exporters Association, Women in Coffee and the Centre for Accelerated Women’s Economic Empowerment. Representatives of government institutions and trade-support organisations also participated.
Addressing barriers to formal trade
Women traders operate across sectors ranging from coffee and horticulture to textiles, handicrafts and consumer goods. A gender analysis commissioned under the programme found that 94% of the women traders surveyed operated without business licences, while more than one-third reported making informal payments at border crossings. Operating informally can make it more difficult for businesses to access finance, meet regulatory requirements and participate fully in formal regional markets.
The workshop responded to these constraints through practical sessions on business formalisation, legal and regulatory requirements, export documentation, access to finance, product and packaging standards, logistics, customs procedures, e-commerce, digital marketing and business negotiation. Participants also examined the regional and continental frameworks shaping Ethiopia’s market access, including the COMESA Simplified Trade Regime, the African Continental Free Trade Area, Ethiopia’s bilateral trade arrangements, and the customs and transit procedures governing the movement of goods through Djibouti. Understanding these frameworks is critical for women-led enterprises seeking to identify viable markets, determine applicable trade requirements and make informed decisions about where and how to export.
Ethiopia has expanded its trade partnerships and strengthened its market-access frameworks. The priority now is to ensure that the traders who sustain cross-border commerce can participate in these opportunities. Strengthening women traders’ understanding of trade procedures enables them to operate within formal systems and benefit from the agreements the country has negotiated.
— H.E. Yasmin Wohabrebbi, State Minister of Trade and Regional Integration
Connecting skills development with corridor reforms
The Djibouti-Ethiopia Corridor is Ethiopia’s principal maritime trade route and a key link for businesses accessing regional and international markets. Improving the corridor is not only about infrastructure and border systems; it also requires equipping businesses to use them. Women-focused export readiness is therefore an important complement to corridor reforms. According to World Bank data sourced from ILOSTAT, 48% of Djibouti’s female labour force was unemployed in 2025, based on a national estimate. Strengthening women’s participation in formal trade and regional value chains can create opportunities for businesses, households and communities across the corridor.
Women traders support household incomes, businesses and local markets across the region. Ensuring that they can access relevant knowledge, legal frameworks and institutional support strengthens their participation in formal trade and contributes to more resilient communities.
— Solomon Asfaw, Adviser to the State Minister of Women and Social Affairs
Turning knowledge into commercial opportunity
Delivered in partnership with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration and Ministry of Women and Social Affairs, the workshop built on an earlier session held during International Women’s Month in March 2026, which focused on improving women traders’ access to market opportunities.
Women traders are active participants in trade along the Djibouti-Ethiopia Corridor. Strengthening their export readiness, business competitiveness and access to formal markets contributes directly to a more efficient, inclusive and commercially vibrant corridor.
— Ewnetu Taye, TMA’s Ethiopia Country Director
Pre- and post-workshop assessments measured changes in participants’ knowledge and confidence. A six-month follow-up will assess how participants have applied their learning, including progress in business formalisation, export compliance and participation in regional trade.
A more connected corridor can deliver broader economic benefits only when businesses are equipped to use it. By combining investments in infrastructure, governance and trade facilitation with targeted support for women traders, the programme is working to turn improved connectivity into more sustainable trade and economic opportunities.