According to the 2024 Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Sub-Saharan Africa ranked low, coming in sixth place out of eight regions assessed for gender gaps. Since 2006, efforts to close the gender gap have only improved it by 5.6 per cent. 

At this pace, achieving full gender parity by 2030 seems unlikely, as persistent institutional barriers continue to expose women to poverty, illiteracy, and health risks. To address these challenges, governments should boost female workforce participation, expand educational opportunities for girls, and enforce stronger anti-discrimination policies.

The WEF report notes it would take 134 years to achieve full gender parity worldwide. With women’s economic participation in Sub-Saharan Africa at 68.1 per cent, lower than North America’s 76.3 per cent, the continent faces a longer path to gender parity. 

According to a 2016 research by the McKinsey Global Institute, the equal economic participation of women, which includes increased female employment in the formal sector, could add up to 26 per cent to the world’s gross domestic product by 2025. Crucially, Sub-Saharan Africa could boost its GDP by 10 per cent by 2025, thus presenting a substantial economic opportunity for the continent.

To tackle the problem of gender inequality, African governments must roll out policies that promote gender parity. These policies should be geared toward increasing female participation in the workforce. African governments can take a cue from South Korea and its family-friendly certification programme. 

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The programme provides tax incentives to companies implementing family-friendly policies such as flexible working hours, on-site childcare facilities, and supportive workplace cultures. Not only do such programmes motivate companies to adopt inclusive hiring practices, they also encourage women to seek opportunities in the workplace.

Since establishing the programme, South Korea has witnessed an eighteen-fold increase in female employment. Today, over 10 million South Korean women are gainfully employed, compared to only 574,000 in the 1960s.

Additionally, Sub-Saharan Africa can bridge the gender equity gap by enhancing educational opportunities for girls. African governments can facilitate these opportunities by addressing the major barriers to female education, which include poverty, child marriage, violence, and limited access to education. 

To do this successfully, African governments must enforce the rights of young girls by enforcing the provisions made in Article 11 and Article 21 (2) of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Article 11 established every child’s right to an education, and Article 21 (2) prohibits the betrothal of girls (and boys) below the age of 18. 

Similarly, African governments can enhance educational opportunities for girls by providing infrastructures that provide a safe and accessible learning environment – this may require more female-only schools in Africa.

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Sub-Saharan African countries can also reduce gender inequality by implementing robust policies against gender discrimination, such as criminalising gender-based violence and protecting women’s property rights. An example of the latter is the 1999 Inheritance Law, which formalised women’s rights to inherit property in Rwanda. 

Such inheritance laws have provided economic security for Rwandan women by increasing their ability to use property as collateral for loans. Similarly, Ghana’s Domestic Violence Act, 2007 (Act 732) provides an example of how African governments can prosecute perpetrators of violence against women and girls. 

The policy recognises aggravated domestic violence as a second-degree felony, with a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Implementing such policies against gender inequality is useful in building a truly inclusive society that protects the interests and well-being of women and girls.

While Sub-Saharan Africa is progressing towards gender parity, progress remains slow and uneven. The region’s advancement, though positive, is insufficient to achieve full gender equality in the foreseeable future. 

Therefore, achieving full equality demands transformative action by investing in girls’ education, breaking barriers to female workforce participation, and enforcing robust anti-discrimination measures to build a truly equitable society.

Comfort Egbanubi is a writing fellow at African Liberty, a U.S.-based think tank focused on advancing individual freedom, peace, and prosperity in Africa. He can be reached at cegbanubi@studentsforliberty.org. The opinions expressed here are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Chanzo. If you are interested in publishing in this space, please contact our editors at editor@thechanzo.com.