As Sub-Saharan Africa recovers from the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, investing in sustainable and scalable solutions to women’s economic empowerment presents a critical opportunity to ‘build back better.’ In 2022, Kore Global worked closely with Euromonitor International (in partnership with six other global organizations: (i) International Cooperative Research Group (ICRG), the research arm of the United States Overseas Cooperative Development Council (U.S. OCDC); (ii) United States Agency for International Development (USAID); (iii) Mastercard Foundation; (iv) International Development Research Centre (IDRC); (v) United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women); and (vi) the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC), a specialized unit within the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN ECA)) to produce a series of country reports exploring barriers and enablers to women’s economic empowerment (WEE) in Sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing largely on secondary research, the 13 country reports examine available data and evidence on factors influencing WEE in the region. The aim was to assess which sectors hold the highest potential for women’s economic empowerment, explore how women’s prospects in these sectors can be strengthened in light of various barriers and drivers, and identify which stakeholders (public and private) are key to achieving this.
Kore Global developed a holistic conceptual framework for the multi-country study, identifying multiple and overlapping factors that combine and interact to influence WEE in each country context. This includes factors at three levels:
- Structural factors: The policy and programming environment.
- Normative factors: Social and gender-based norms that shape women’s engagement in paid and unpaid work, as well as factors such as violence against women and girls (VAWG), which hinder women’s active economic participation, rights, and well-being.
- Individual factors: Human, social, and economic capital.
The reports identify key factors at each of these levels with relevance to all sectors. Additionally, the reports include a sectoral analysis examining barriers, opportunities, and entry points for WEE in key sectors identified in consultation with country-level stakeholders. This encompasses a wide range of sectors from subsectors of Agriculture (including Maize, Coffee, and Rice) and Wholesale and Retail Trade (WRT) to Microenterprises.The final country-level reports provide practical recommendations for public and private sector partners to consider, aiming to improve and expand women’s economic opportunities and contribute meaningfully to WEE. The country reports are available on Euromonitor International’s website here.
