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6.2 Legal and regulatory constraints: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa 2007

Guest post by: World Economic Forum

Article Overview: 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.

6.2 Legal and regulatory constraints: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa 2007

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).

Related Articles
  1.0 Overview: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa, 2007
  2.0 Gender in African economies: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa, 2007
  7.0 Conclusions: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa 2007
  13.0 Business environment issues: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  V. D. The Future of China-Africa Economic Relations: FACTORS INFLUENCING THE GROWING TIES

Article Tags: Africa, Africa, African countries, country study, Foreign Investment Advisory Service FIAS, Gender Entrepreneurship Markets GEM, legal systems, legal systems, men and women, men and women, property rights, Saharan Africa, the World Bank, the World Bank, women entrepreneurs



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