The multi-partner, “Pathways to Gender-Inclusive Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Sectoral Analysis” study encompasses 13 countries including: Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. Through a combination of primary and secondary research, the study identifies the growing economic sectors in each country that hold the most promising and lucrative opportunities for women, especially young women. The study also reviews the cultural norms, policies, legal provisions, skillsets, and other factors that can support women’s success in the workforce and as entrepreneurs in those growing sectors, including the positive potential role for cooperatives.
This timely study is intended to inform strategies, programme design and implementation, and policies that will promote women’s economic empowerment (WEE) and, in turn, economic growth. The study’s inclusive and collaborative approach focuses on research for impact, aiming to maximise the potential commitments and actions to support gender-inclusive development by donors, civil society, the private sector, and policymakers at the country, regional and global level by building off of country and sector-specific recommendations for consideration.
Study Overview: Collaborative Effort to Promote Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE)
Euromonitor International’s Global Project Manager, Dr. Bolutife Onaneye, describes the origin, rationale, methodology, and potential next steps for the multi-donor “Pathways to Gender-Inclusive Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Sectoral Analysis” gender study.
Discover more - Country specific reports
Angola
Angola created an enabling policy environment through the 2013 National Policy for Gender Equality/Equity and recently, by institutionalising a gender-sensitive budgeting approach.
Botswana
Botswana has a gender supportive policy environment, has achieved gender parity in primary/secondary education and ranks third globally for countries with the highest share of female managers (54.5%).
Cameroon
Cameroon’s 2020-2030 National Development Strategy (NDS2030) integrates efforts to enhance gender equality.
Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire has enacted legislation to prohibit discrimination and promote equality of women and men.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s National Development Plan (2021-30) recognises women’s equal participation as important for achieving prosperity, and the 13-year Industrial Strategic Plan (2013-2025) seeks to bring more women into medium and high-skilled jobs.
Kenya
Kenya has progressively embedded global/regional rights provisions for women/girls within national/local mandates.
Rwanda
Since the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, women have anchored Rwanda’s workforce.
Senegal
Senegal has several plans and initiatives that include a focus on women (e.g., Plan for an Emerging Senegal [PES] targeting women entrepreneurs).
South Africa
In South Africa, gender equality has improved across educational access, health outcomes and political representation.
Uganda
Uganda’s policy framework is generally supportive of women’s economic activity, with female labour force participation (FLFP) increasing in recent years (68.2% as at 2021) though still lower than men’s (73.9%).
Discover Fresh Insights In The Dissemination Workshop
In an effort to raise awareness of the Pathways SSA Gender study and its key findings, the project Steering Committee hosted a virtual dissemination workshop on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023.
Pathways SSA Gender Study - Sector Gender Dashboard
This dashboard presents a compilation of data evidence from ILO, AfDB and Euromonitor Passport databases on women’s economic empowerment across broad economic sectors and the 13 countries covered on the Pathways SSA Gender Study. Euromonitor has analysed economic and employment data to develop new metrics including the benefit of female inclusion and forecasted female labour share (into 2030).
For an optimal user experience, this interactive dashboard is best viewed on screens with a width of at least 990px.
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