The International Trade Centre (ITC) launched the first Trade Information and Border Assistance Office in Guéckédou, Guinea, near the borders with Sierra Leone and Liberia, in May 2022 as a component of the Multi-Partner Migration Trust Fund (MPTF) of the United Nations.
The Office addresses the border community’s concerns about border formalities, providing the support that is sorely needed given the language barriers and a lack of knowledge and skills needed to prepare the documents that must be presented to border officials. The ITC-trained officers will support small-scale traders in managing cross-border trade operations throughout Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, with a focus on women and young people. They will also make it easier for them to comply with relevant rules and regulations.
More than 200 guests, including those from the local community and neighboring nations, the government and local authorities, representatives of aid organizations, and members of the business community and traders, attended the opening ceremony.
At the ceremony, Colonel Moussa Condé, the town’s Prefect, said: “I sincerely thank the International Trade Centre for its unwavering support to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and for its contribution to Guinea’s economic development. We commend ITC’s leadership in building cross-border, social cohesion and recognize the crucial role this Office will play to formalize trade flows around the Makona River and to empower small-scale traders and especially women traders.”
National MPTF Consultant Marliatou Diallo explained: “The Trade Information and Border Assistance Office is part of a set of activities that aims to maintain cross-border social cohesion, through the development of local products; improve access to local and regional markets; contribute to the diversification of livelihoods for border communities; and build the capacity of cross-border trade monitoring agencies.”
Timothée Bruneteau, Associate Trade Facilitation Programme Officer at ITC added: “This new service will provide traders engaged in the informal economy the necessary push to progressively formalize their activities, improve their commercial security and thus contribute to building a more conducive business environment through trade facilitation and voluntary compliance with the rule of law.”