Abigail Chaponda in Liverpool, United Kingdom
First Lady Esther Lungu and Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment of the Gambia Dr. Isatou Touray on Tuesday held bilateral talks at which they discussed trade collaboration between Zambian and The Gambian women.
The First Lady is in Liverpool United Kingdom, to attend the SheTrades Global 2018 where she is delivering a keynote speech in her capacity as African Woman Entrepreneurs Program (AWEP) Chairperson. This is in recognition for her commitment towards strong advocacy for women empowerment.
During the bilateral meeting, Dr. Touray highlighted the benefits of African women working together to identify opportunities that will strengthen the African continent competitiveness in order to create quality trade globally.
She said African women were enterprising and needed to come together to build regional trade blocks that will help bring about development in Africa.
“There is need to mobilise and come together as African women and build regional trade blocks. We are now talking of the African continental Free Trade, and African countries must sign up to this. The best practice is for all African countries to come together. I don’t think everyone of us being fragmented will give us the opportunity for Africa to grow,” she said.
Dr. Touray also said removing all the trade barriers in Africa can create an opportunity for Africa to effectively trade and penetrate the international market.
And the First Lady described the bilateral talk with Dr. Touray as successful.
She welcomed the prospects of trade collaboration in trade between the two countries saying that empowering women through trade ventures can bring development to Zambia, the Gambia and African as a whole.
She added that it was important for Zambia to partner with other African countries to spread trade across the continent.
“This is a very welcome move, it will be important to join hands together and see how we can move forward in trade and investment and encourage our women to trade among themselves. It is our desire that once we get to our respective countries, we begin collaborating and talking and see how we can kick start the regional blocks that will enable our women work together,” she said.
