Figure of the week: Labor trends for women in Africa
By Sakinatou Djantchiemo, Tamara White
In January 2022, the Brookings Africa Progress Initiative (AGI) launched its annual Foresight Africa report, which explores prime priorities for the area within the coming yr. This report examines among the most pertinent points dealing with the continent in 2022, together with its financial restoration from the COVID-19 pandemic, public well being, the empowerment of African girls and women, local weather change, technological innovation, and the area’s exterior relations.
Chapter three of Foresight Africa 2022, titled African girls and women: Main a continent, focuses on methods to additional empower Africa’s girls and women. The essay and viewpoints within the chapter collectively present that, whereas there was a lot progress for African girls and women in recent times with regards to political participation, schooling, and involvement in science and know-how, amongst different areas, there may be nonetheless numerous work to be performed to make sure girls are totally represented and empowered. For instance, girls in Africa stay underrepresented on company boards, however that quantity just isn’t far off from the worldwide common (Determine 1).
Determine 1. Ladies in Africa are more and more represented in company boards
Supply: Ordu, A., & Golubski, C. (Eds.). (2022). Foresight Africa: High Priorities for the Continent in 2022. Washington, DC: Brookings Establishment.
As proven within the determine, in 2018, sub-Saharan African girls held 24.three p.c of board seats of African firms (and 24.5 p.c of board chairs), in comparison with 27 p.c on company boards worldwide.
Then again, when evaluating feminine labor participation extra broadly in sub-Saharan Africa with the remainder of the world, we see a wider hole (Determine 2).
Determine 2. Feminine labor power participation by sector, Africa and the world
Supply: Ordu, A., & Golubski, C. (Eds.). (2022). Foresight Africa: High Priorities for the Continent in 2022. Washington, DC: Brookings Establishment.
For instance, because the determine exhibits, in 2019, 40 p.c of girls within the labor power in sub-Saharan Africa labored within the companies sector, in comparison with over 60 p.c in lower-middle-income international locations (excluding these in sub-Saharan Africa). Notably, though African girls’s participation in business and companies has elevated since 2010, they’re nonetheless most frequently employed in agriculture. In 2019, girls in agriculture represented about 50 p.c of sub-Saharan Africa’s feminine labor participation in comparison with lower than 20 p.c in lower-middle-income international locations (excluding sub-Saharan Africa) (Determine 2). General, the feminine labor power participation within the agriculture sector declined from 2000 to 2019, however sub-Saharan Africa continues to carry the very best fee of participation within the sector.
