Source: East African Business Week
A new World Bank report has unveiled mistreatment of business women involved in cross-border trade by the border officials.
The report on the theme "De-fragmenting Africa: Removing Barriers to Trade in Africa" is a result of investigations on the constraints and conditions that cross-border traders undergo in conducting business.

The report follows a survey that started in mid-2010 at four key border crossings in the Great Lakes region. These included the Uvira-Bujumbura (between DRC and Burundi), Bukavu-Cyangugu (between DRC and Rwanda), Goma-Gisenyi (DRC and Rwanda) and Kasindi-Mpondwe (DRC and Uganda).
The report says that responses from interviews and focus groups paint a dark picture of the conditions experienced by poor women cross-border traders in the Great Lakes region.
"They face serious risks and losses each time they cross the border," says the report released last week.
It said that it is striking that payments of bribes is a regular occurrence for the majority of traders as respondents at all the four border posts repeated a catch phrase used by officials: "sans argent, on ne passe pas" which means "no money, no passing".
The report reveals that at the Goma-Gisenyi border 100% of respondents reported that they had to pay bribes to cross the border while a large number of traders also report having their goods confiscated and having to pay fines.
"An important feature of border crossings between the DRC and neighboring countries in the Great Lakes region is the large number and range of officials at the border; which exacerbates the problem of poor governance with negative consequences for cross-border traders," says the report.
"Not only are there officials from customs at the border but also immigration officials, the police, the army, and officials implementing health controls but there is a lack of transparency and awareness by both traders and officials of the rules and regulations that are supposed to govern cross-border movements of goods and people compound this situation," adds the report.
The report quotes a typical account of every day conditions as provided by an egg and sugar trader from Goma:
"I buy my eggs in Rwanda, as soon as I cross to Congo I give one egg to every official who asks me. Some days I give away more than 30 eggs!"
The researchers advise that reducing the number of agencies and officials at the border and increasing the transparency and predictability of the policy regime is crucial to providing an environment in which traders flourish and expand their business.
It says that a large number of traders report being subject to acts of violence, threats, and sexual harassment adding that traders are exposed to beatings, verbal insults, stripping, and even rape.
"Much of this abuse is unreported. While some borders are better organized, this gender-based violence, although more prevalent in the DRC, is being perpetrated on both sides of the border in Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda," adds the report.
It said that not only do officials harass traders but young men called "les viseurs" (watchers) are hired by state officials and given powers to apply force as needed to extract money and goods from traders, particularly those that move by foot with goods strapped on their backs or carried by head.
A typical occurrence is that women traders are often encircled by a group of men after they cross the border making them vulnerable to theft and physical abuse.
"This lack of economic and physical security and safety undermines the livelihoods of these traders and compounds their lack of access to finance, information, and business knowledge," says the report.
Informal traders, especially poor women food traders, often lack representation and organization also making them vulnerable to powerful officials who control the borders.
"Most of the attention of the government and donors has been on improving conditions for formal trade and better infrastructure for trucks at the main border crossings," says the report adding that informal cross-border traders have not been high on the agenda.
The border crossings in Goma are a good example. Two crossings are regulated by customs, the "petite barrier" for small informal traders, and the "grande barrière" for more formal
traders. The differences between the two crossings are striking, as is the stark contrast between the DRC side and the well-organized Rwandan side of the border.
At the "grande barrière" the road is paved and buildings are in reasonable state and cross-border movements appear orderly. At the "petite barrière" (Goma side) it is chaos. Roads are very poor, and congested with vendors, and a number of storefronts tumble onto the busy roadside.