As the world marks International Women’s Day, RFI looks at the situation in Africa. Women on the continent are closer to equality today than they were four years ago, according to the latest report by the UN and the African Development Bank, but the continent is still only halfway to achieving gender parity.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Nathalie Gahunga, manager of the Gender and Women Empowerment Division at the African Development Bank (AfDB) said they are “a call to action for African governments to invest in Africa’s women and girls for sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development that works for all, across the continent”.
She emphasised that this could be achieved through evidence-based, gender-responsive policies and programmes, adding: “At the African Development Bank, we will continue collaborating with governments to address this important gap.”
The Africa Gender Index 2023 Analytical Report measures gender equality in 54 African countries, scoring them between 0 and 100 – representing full equality.
Entitled “African Women in Times of Crisis”, this second edition of the Africa Gender Index (AGI) is the latest conducted by the AfDB and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and was released in November 2024.
It shows that between 2019 and 2023, Africa’s overall gender index score improved from 48.6 to 50.3 percent. While this marks progress, it also highlights a sobering reality: women on the continent still experience half the economic, social and representation opportunities available to men.
Keiso Matashane-Marite, head of UNECA’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Section, said: “None of the targets for United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality are on track. For instance, equal representation in parliaments won’t be reached until 2063. This is unacceptable.”
She believes Africa cannot achieve sustainable prosperity if half its potential – that represented by the women of the continent – remains underused.
Matashane-Marite is urging policymakers to act decisively, using the AGI findings to implement practical solutions and close gender gaps.
“The need for accelerated action is clear," she said. "By addressing these gaps, we can build a more inclusive and prosperous Africa for all.”
The AfDB’s Gahunga echoed this, saying: “This effort requires strong support in investing gender data and statistics for more evidence-based decision-making, that leads to transformative public policy reforms.”
The report found that women in Africa score just 50.3 percent in equality across economic, social and public representation areas – a slight improvement from the 48 percent score in 2019.
Women in Africa are closer to equality in social areas, with a score of 98.3 – a parameter that includes access to education and healthcare. Girls on the continent now outnumber boys in graduation rates across primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education.
The report also found a 1.5 percent increase in women’s representation, which rose to 24.4 percent. However, women continue to be underrepresented in Africa’s parliaments, ministerial positions and private leadership roles.
Economically, there has been a decline in gender equality. Women’s economic parity dropped from 61 percent in 2019 to 58.2 in 2023. While both men and women experienced economic setbacks during the reported period, women were disproportionately adversely affected.
Women are also often the first victims of the conflicts raging on the continent.
“When conflict and crisis strike, displacement, hunger, and poverty follow,” according to the charity Oxfam. “But, all too often, it is women’s rights that become the early casualties of war.”
The charity reports that one in five refugee or displaced women suffers sexual violence, and that in countries affected by conflict girls are 2.5 times more likely not to be in school.
“As they flee conflict, travel, and settle in refugee camps they are highly vulnerable to all forms of violence. They face exploitation, sexual harassment, and rape; they risk being sold into early or unwanted marriages or resorting to survival sex just to get their basic needs for food, shelter, and transport met.”
Building on its findings, the AGI recommends targeted actions to close the gender gap across three key areas.
In the social sphere, the report urges countries to invest in overcoming barriers that prevent women from thriving in education, such as the burden of unpaid domestic work, early marriage and inadequate sanitary facilities in schools.
On representation, the report recommends strict enforcement of gender quotas in order to increase the number of women in leadership roles, in both government and the private sector.
Recognising that women often attain higher education levels than men, the report also calls for African countries to tackle harmful gender norms and practices, and address occupational segregation, to boost women’s economic participation.