ECOWAS Lawmakers Push Urgent Reforms to Unlock AfCFTA Gains for Women, Youth Traders

By: Michael Mike

Lawmakers of the ECOWAS Parliament have called for sweeping legal and policy reforms to remove longstanding barriers stifling women- and youth-led businesses, warning that West Africa risks missing out on the full benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) if inclusive trade is not prioritised.

The call came at the close of deliberations preceding the Parliament’s First Extraordinary Session of 2026 in Abuja, where members debated how to reposition the sub-region to compete effectively under Africa’s single market framework.

With a regional population of over 400 million people—most of them women and young persons—parliamentarians stressed that AfCFTA must not become an elite-driven trade arrangement that sidelines the informal sector, which forms the backbone of West Africa’s economy.

Speaker of the Parliament, Rt. Hon. Maimounatou Ibrahima, said the sub-region must urgently confront structural bottlenecks that limit the productivity and competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), particularly those owned by women and youth.

She argued that AfCFTA presents an unprecedented opportunity for economic transformation, but only if governments and lawmakers enact reforms that simplify trade procedures, improve access to finance, and eliminate discriminatory practices at borders.

Earlier, Christopher Mensah-Yawson of the Trade Directorate at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission presented a paper titled “Women, Youth, and Informal Cross-border Traders: Unlocking Inclusive Growth Under AfCFTA.”

He revealed that women account for nearly three-quarters of informal cross-border traders in West Africa, while a significant proportion of young people under 25 depend on informal commerce for survival.

Despite their economic importance, he noted, these groups face multiple constraints, including complex customs documentation, limited access to credit, poor storage infrastructure, gender-insensitive border facilities, harassment, extortion and insecurity.

Mensah-Yawson described AfCFTA as a potential equaliser, pointing to mechanisms such as the Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade, simplified trade regimes and digital trade platforms designed to formalise and scale up small businesses.

He added that ECOWAS has introduced initiatives including an Informal Trade Regularisation Support Programme, a Trade and Gender Framework (2024–2030), and a Regional E-Commerce Strategy aimed at integrating vulnerable traders into formal markets.

However, lawmakers insisted that frameworks alone would not suffice without enforceable legislation and effective implementation at national levels.

Guy Marious, a parliamentarian from Senegal, urged stronger protection measures for local SMEs to shield them from being overwhelmed by larger continental competitors under AfCFTA.

Nigeria’s Blessing Onu called for deliberate integration of women and youth into trade policies, pressing financial institutions to expand affordable credit to emerging entrepreneurs.

Hon. Amodu Camara of The Gambia cautioned against allowing discussions to remain rhetorical, urging concrete timelines and measurable actions to support women- and youth-owned enterprises.

Other members echoed concerns that persistent non-tariff barriers, weak border management systems and inadequate infrastructure continue to undermine intra-regional trade.

The debate underscored a growing recognition within the ECOWAS Parliament that the success of AfCFTA in West Africa will depend largely on whether it can uplift the millions of small traders—particularly women and youth—who power the region’s informal economy.

As AfCFTA implementation gathers momentum, lawmakers signalled that legislative activism, regulatory reforms and targeted investments will be critical to ensuring that West Africa’s most vulnerable entrepreneurs are not left behind in Africa’s largest trade experiment.

ECOWAS Lawmakers Push Urgent Reforms to Unlock AfCFTA Gains for Women, Youth Traders

Police exhume seven bodies over Yelwata killings, as part of the Presidential Medical Delegation Investigation in Benue

By: Zagazola Makama

The Police in Benue have exhumed seven in connection with the 2025 Yelwata killings as part of ongoing investigations by the Presidential Medical Delegation as part of efforts to ensure justice for victims of what he described as a brutal assault.

Zagazola learnt that the exhumation was carried out on Feb. 24 by federal investigators led by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) following an earlier situation report on the exercise.

According to the sources, the bodies were exhumed for inquest, adding that the exercise would continue at a later date.

“Seven corpses have been exhumed by the IRT-led federal investigators for inquest. The exercise will continue, and further development will be communicated,” police sources said.

Forensic pathologists from the Federal Ministry of Justice have arrived in Benue State to investigate the June 13, 2025, attack on Yelwata, a community in the Guma Local Government Area of the state.

The Presidential Medical Delegation on Monday visited Yelwata in Guma Local Government Area to inspect graves of victims of the June 2025 attack on the community.

Security sources said the delegation visited the burial site where victims of the attack were interred, and the graves were identified as part of ongoing investigative and medical review processes.

The deployment follows proceedings at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where nine suspects were arraigned on 2 February 2026 before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik in connection with the Yelwata attack.

The court stressed the importance of forensic evidence to ensure a fair trial and proper determination of culpability.

The sources added that adequate security measures were put in place to ensure a peaceful and hitch-free exercise.

The Guma Local government Yelwata attack of June 13, 2025, resulted in the deaths of several residents and forced many others to flee their homes.

Police exhume seven bodies over Yelwata killings, as part of the Presidential Medical Delegation Investigation in Benue

Farmer Killed in Yobe Over Land Dispute, Pastoralists Injured

By: Zagazola Makama

A farmer, Moh’d Abdullahi, 50, of Garin Mallam Village, Karasuwa LGA, has been killed after being shot with arrows during an altercation with pastoralists on his farmland on Monday.

Sources said the suspects, identified as Usmanu Alh. Musa, Buba Alh. Manu, and Ahmadu Inusa, all from Tarja Fulani Settlement in Jakusko LGA, allegedly trespassed onto Abdullahi’s farmland. When the farmer cautioned them, the suspects attacked him, leaving him with fatal injuries.

In the ensuing retaliation, some villagers assaulted Ahmadu Inusa, who sustained injuries to various parts of his body. Both victims were rushed to Specialist Hospital Gashua in Bade LGA, where Abdullahi was certified dead, while Inusa received medical attention and remains hospitalized.

The body of Abdullahi was released to his family for burial according to Islamic rites. Investigations into the incident and the circumstances surrounding the dispute are ongoing.

Farmer Killed in Yobe Over Land Dispute, Pastoralists Injured