Persistent gender inequalities across Sub-Saharan Africa continue to limit women’s economic participation and constrain long-term growth prospects, the World Bank said in a new global assessment released on Tuesday.
The findings, contained in the Women, Business and the Law 2026 report, show that no country worldwide including those in Africa provides women with full economic equality under the law or in practice, highlighting structural barriers that economists say undermine productivity and inclusive development.
According to the report, women globally enjoy only about two-thirds of the legal economic rights granted to men, reflected in an average global score of 67 out of 100. Sub-Saharan Africa performs below that level, recording a regional average of 59.6, suggesting women across the continent continue to face significant legal and institutional disadvantages.
“Massive gaps persist, with women enjoying less than two-thirds of men’s rights,” the report noted, adding that only about four percent of women worldwide live in economies approaching full legal equality.
The study assessed 190 economies and examined reforms introduced between October 2023 and October 2025. Unlike earlier editions, the latest report expands its analysis beyond legislation to evaluate enforcement systems, institutional effectiveness and access to public services — areas where performance remains weak.
Globally, supportive systems enabling women to exercise economic rights scored just 33 points, while enforcement effectiveness reached 45.4, indicating that legal reforms often fail to translate into real economic opportunity.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the widest disparities were recorded in protection from violence, entrepreneurship opportunities and childcare provision — factors closely linked to labour force participation and income mobility.
Regional scores stood at 28.7 for safety from violence, 43.8 for entrepreneurship and 25.2 for childcare access. Although pay-related legislation performed relatively better at 80.7, analysts say occupational segregation and wage disparities continue to limit income equality.
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The report also highlighted severe institutional gaps that act as indirect barriers to women entering or remaining in the workforce. Childcare infrastructure scored just 4.4 across the region, while workplace protections and parenthood policies recorded scores of 16.2 and 18.2 respectively.
Weak enforcement compounds these challenges. Safety enforcement in Sub-Saharan Africa scored 13.7, while childcare enforcement reached only 10.2 — both significantly below global averages.
Despite the challenges, the World Bank noted signs of gradual reform momentum across the continent. Since late 2023, at least 33 legal reforms have been enacted across 15 African economies aimed at improving gender equality.
Madagascar led reform efforts with six policy changes, including the removal of restrictions on women’s employment, introduction of equal pay provisions and expansion of parental leave policies. Somalia also implemented reforms lifting employment bans in certain sectors and introducing paternity leave measures.
Only six Sub-Saharan African economies — Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritius, South Africa, Togo and Zambia — achieved legal framework scores above 75, with mobility and pay equality emerging as the region’s strongest indicators.
However, progress remains uneven. The report found that 20 economies in the region still lack affordable centre-based childcare systems, while legal protections against workplace harassment and gender-based violence remain limited in several countries.
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Some countries, including Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe, have introduced pension incentives targeting women, while specialised judicial mechanisms addressing gender-based violence operate in only a small number of jurisdictions.
Overall enforcement performance across Sub-Saharan Africa stands below the global average, with no economy exceeding an enforcement score of 80, underscoring the persistent gap between policy commitments and implementation capacity.
The World Bank said closing this divide will be critical for unlocking women’s full economic potential and accelerating growth across the region.
Economists increasingly argue that improving women’s access to jobs, finance and entrepreneurship could significantly boost productivity, strengthen household incomes and expand investment opportunities — outcomes viewed as essential for sustaining Africa’s development momentum in the coming decades.
