Rethinking the Nature, Implications and Challenges of Informal Cross Border Trade by Women from Cameroon across the Cameroon-Nigeria Southwestern Borders

Isah Adamu Sheneyeh,Christiana Abonge,Lotsmart Fonjong

doi:10.4236/jss.2021.910018

Abstract

Women’s participation in informal cross border trade (ICBT) in Cameroon has progressively become a popular and vital safety net to unemployment. While it has been acknowledged that earnings from women’s ICBT activities contribute to reductions in poverty and women’s empowerment, scant evidence reports the patterns of ICBT carried out by women. This paper seeks to examine the activities of women cross-border traders along the Cameroon-Nigeria border. Using questionnaire and interview guide, the study examines how ICBT is effectively carried out, and the nature and trends of ICBT across the Cameroon-Nigerian border. Findings noted that women involved in ICBT between the Cameroon-Nigeria border are young between 21 - 40 years and married with large families. While the women involved come from diverse demographics and trade with assorted goods, they started off as informal traders with access to business capital through informal thrift channels. By and large, women are motivated into ICBT by capital constraint to start a formal business and the possibilities to make more profit due to tax evasion and smuggling. While women’s ICBT impacts on reductions in household poverty and women’s empowerment, these activities affect state custom revenue. A better policy framework that increases women’s profitability and protects state revenue by addressing custom and police corruption is indispensable for the sustainability of the economic impact of ICBT.

Highlights

Prior to European colonization and the creation of nation states and borders, trade was mainly carried out in the form of barter across African tribal groups
While informal cross border trade (ICBT) may generally be lucrative as studies across the continent suggest, it could be challenging, especially in this case where many fundamental odds such as differences in currencies, trade blocs, languages, etc. exist between Cameroon and Nigeria. These odds and other risks, irregularities and tensions that arise from trading under complex conditions may create avenues for criticism and formalization of cooperation between the two neighbours. It is against this backdrop of a complex trading environment that this study explores the nature, challenges, and economic and social effects of ICBT between Cameroon and Nigeria on Cameroonian women from the Southwest region
Diversity of Women Involved in ICBT between Cameroon and Nigeria

Summary

Introduction

Prior to European colonization and the creation of nation states and borders, trade was mainly carried out in the form of barter across African tribal groups. Colonialism introduced national borders, trade regulations between colonies, which later served as the beginning of customs, tariffs, and other trade regulations between the new African countries. The application of these trade regulations applied even among the same ethnic or linguistic groups who have been arbitrarily separated by European interest. Trade that operated outside these rules or/and across various geographical and institutional boundaries, including between separated villages became regarded as informal. These rules hindering trade across European created borders encouraged smuggling or were generally resisted by Africans. Informal cross border trade was used in South Africa to dismantle the predominance of colonial structures (Mijere, 2009)

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