Many African countries are characterized by the coexistence of dual or multiple legal systems, which lead to greater insecurity of women’s legal status, compared with men. A 10-country study of women’s legal rights in sub-Saharan Africa finds that under both statutory and customary law, the overwhelming majority of women in sub-Saharan Africa—often regardless of their marital status—cannot own or inherit land, housing, or other property in their own right.24 Eligibility to access finance is identified as a hurdle in the World Bank’s recent study of finance in Africa. In Swaziland, for example, legislation mandates that a woman can be party to a contract (such as opening an account or taking out a loan) only with the consent of her father, husband, or other male family member.This might explain the large gender gap in bank accounts—52 percent of men but only 30 percent of women have accounts in that country.25 Many country studies document the ways in which property rights differ for men and women, and how protections and remedies afforded to women are different from those afforded to men.These constraints may not have as much impact on women who are already entrepreneurs, but may have a severe impact on women who want to become entrepreneurs and are not able to do so. Unfortunately, data are “sorely lacking”
according to one study of women’s property rights in sub-Saharan Africa.26 This makes it difficult to know the true extent of women’s ownership or control of key assets and resources.
Some African countries have embarked on reforms aimed at reducing the discriminatory treatment of women by their legal systems. Reforms have generally focused on gaining equal legal protection for women under constitutions, suffrage rights, fair labor laws, family law (for example, incorporating the various customs governing women’s role in the family into a uniform legal code), and improving women’s right to property under intestate laws.
Not all constitutions guarantee women equal rights with men, and in countries where they do, lower-level laws or application of laws may violate the gender equality provision of the constitution, and common practice may ignore it altogether.To address some of these issues, African heads of state adopted a protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa in Maputo in 2003, which entered into force in November 2005.
In all, 43 countries have signed the protocol, and 20
have ratified it.
A promising area of intervention in support of women’s entrepreneurship has been opened up through the work pioneered by the Gender Entrepreneurship Markets (GEM) unit of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), in collaboration with the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) and the World Bank. A program of Gender and Growth Assessments (GGAs) is now being developed to address legal and regulatory obstacles that affect men and women differently, to build the capacity of entrepreneurs, bankers, and other stakeholders, and to put in place financing mechanisms for women entrepreneurs in partnership with commercial banks (Box 2).
The Uganda GGA, for example, found that women comprise 39 percent of businesses with registered premises, yet most female workers in Uganda either are unpaid family farm workers or are self-employed in the informal sector.28 Barriers to the formalization of a business appear to have a disproportionate effect on female entrepreneurs in Uganda due to increased time constraints, fewer official contacts, and less access to funds.
In some cases, these constraints create an absolute barrier to women’s ability to formalize their businesses.
The costs of registration and licensing regulations are markedly different for women compared with men (see Box 3).
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