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The study Can Africa Claim the 21st Century? made
the argument that Africa has enormous unexploited
potential, especially the potential of women. Specifically,
it pointed out that women comprise one of Africa’s
hidden growth reserves, providing most of the region’s
labor, but their productivity is hampered by widespread
inequality in education as well as unequal access to land
and productive inputs.The report concluded that gender
equality can be a potent force for accelerated poverty
reduction.2

The economic importance of women in
Africa was reinforced by the Africa Commission
Report, which noted that “all the evidence agrees that
[women] make a greater contribution to economic life
than their menfolk.”3 The World Bank’s Africa Action
Plan (AAP), developed in response to the G8 Summit in
2005, also reiterates the central contribution of women
to African economies (see Box 1).The AAP progress
report presented to the Bank’s Board of Directors in
March 2007 included women’s economic empowerment
as one of eight flagship areas for increased focus during
implementation.

Gender inequality plays a significant role in
accounting for Africa’s poor growth and poverty reduction
performance.A recent review of available evidence
indicates that gender inequality in education may limit
growth; that inequalities in access to land and productive
inputs reduce agricultural productivity, investment, and
modernization; and that inequalities in time burdens,
alongside high demographic growth rates, all contribute to reducing women’s ability to participate effectively in,
and to benefit from, economic growth.4

The legal and regulatory environment is a core
element of the investment climate, and is also critical
for competitiveness. In particular, property rights, labor
laws, personal security, the performance of the judiciary,
and the time and cost required to register, license, and
operate a business all affect competitiveness and the
dynamism of the private sector.This environment may
affect men and women in quite different ways, as in
many African societies laws and customs impede women
to a greater extent than men in obtaining credit, productive
inputs, education, training, and information
needed to start and operate a business.

Although in
some cases there may be gender-specific legal and
administrative barriers, for the most part the regulatory
environment will be “gender-neutral” in principle, but
with possibly gender-differentiated outcomes in practice
—for example, women may be less able than men to
afford long and expensive registration procedures. For
these reasons, women may be more disadvantaged than
men in starting-up and managing enterprises.

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