SADC has prioritised women’s economic empowerment through the SADC Gender Protocol, the Protocol on Employment and Labour and the SADC Industrialisation strategy. The SADC Gender Protocol includes articles on economic policies and women in decision-making, multiple roles of women, economic empowerment, access to property and resources, equal access to employment and benefits. This chapter highlights progress made on gender equality in the productive resources and economy.
Some key points
- The proportion of women in economic decision-making has decreased by seven percentage points from 27% in
2015 to 20% in 2016. Angola has the highest proportion of women in economic decision- making at 43%.
- There is only one female finance minister in the region (in Lesotho). There are only three women trade and industry ministers (Angola, DRC, South Africa) and only three female central bank governors (in Botswana, Lesotho and Seychelles).
- Only four SADC countries recorded at least 50% of firms in the country with female participation in business ownership (Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe).