By Anna Kam and Rachel Yeo

Every day, tens of thousands of small-scale traders cross the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to do business.

Nearly all of the traders are women, said an immigration officer at the Poids Lourd border, the country’s busiest port that sees around 50,000 to 60,000 people cross a day.

Mostly on foot, the women lug heavy bags of crops, fish and manufactured goods to sell on the streets and in markets. Others carry milk and clean water to sell to the million Congolese living in Goma, just over the border.

They live in border communities, according to the Rwandan government, and with 70% of Rwandan women engaged in farming, many are selling their own produce.

Under the COMESA Simplified Trade Regime, agriculture, fish, cosmetics and manufactured products are tax free between the two countries, a move designed to facilitate small-scale trading.

“There is no import tax to Congo when the Rwandans go into trade, if the items are below US$2,000,” said the immigration officer.

Rwanda and DRC residents need only an identity card to cross and are allowed to stay 24 hours at a time.

“Rwandan men think that US$2,000 is too little to trade,” Ann Mugunga, who is from Uganda and studying in Hong Kong, said. “Whereas, the women would trade however big or small because they need to pay small fees such as payments of their children to go to school.”