A new World Bank report has acknowledged Nigeria alongside Kenya and
Ethiopia as countries with “very few barriers” to women’s
entrepreneurship and employment in the areas monitored.
The World Bank Group’s Women, Business and the Law 2016 report which
was released on Wednesday also found that 18 economies in the world,
including Namibia and South Africa, have no legal barriers to women in
the areas assessed.
Sudan, one of 10 most restrictive economies in the world, Mauritania,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroun, Guinea, Benin, Swaziland, and
Senegal were also identified by the report as economies with the
greatest barriers.
It said the sub-Saharan Africa was a study in contrasts regarding women’s economic advancement.
The biennial report noted: “And the region continues to make progress towards gender equality, with 16 economies making 18 reforms in the past two years. sub-Saharan Africa was the greatest reformer among all regions of the world, in terms of number of economies undertaking reforms.”
The biennial report noted: “And the region continues to make progress towards gender equality, with 16 economies making 18 reforms in the past two years. sub-Saharan Africa was the greatest reformer among all regions of the world, in terms of number of economies undertaking reforms.”
The study examines legal and regulatory barriers to women’s ability to
get a job and start a business. The latest edition covers 173 economies
across the globe, including 41 in sub-Saharan Africa, adding Equatorial
Guinea; São Tomé and Príncipe; Seychelles; South Sudan; and Swaziland
from the region.
It further noted that in Sudan, women are prohibited from certain jobs,
including night work, and there are no legal provisions mandating equal
remuneration for work of equal value for men and women or
non-discrimination in hiring.
Sudanese laws also impose a number of additional restrictions on
married women, who are required to obey their husbands, cannot choose
where to live or be head of household.
The report also stated that 28 of the 41 sub-Saharan African economies
covered by the in the assessment continued to maintain restrictions that
do not allow women to work in the same jobs as men.
It added that property rights remain an impediment to wealth
accumulation for women, noting that of the seven economies in the world
that give sole right to the husband to administer joint marital
property, six are in sub-Saharan Africa.
Only eight economies in the region have laws guaranteeing equal
remuneration for work of equal value for men and women and
nondiscrimination in hiring for jobs, it added.
However, it added that less than half of the economies have legislation to protect women against domestic violence.
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