The report, titled “Young Women in Africa: Agents of Economic Growth and Transformation By 2030”, underscored the role of women’s economic empowerment in driving Africa’s transformational growth.

It outlined a series of immediate, actionable solutions for government, the private sector, and civil society to reverse the steep decline of young women’s contribution to Africa’s GDP from 18 per cent in 2000 to just 11 per cent in 2022.

“The most pivotal areas to tackle include care burdens that restrict women’s access to the labour market, poor education completion rates, the need to bolster competitive skills in key sectors and adopt gender-inclusive employment policies, and lack of access to financial services,” it stated.

The report noted that effective private sector-led approaches and government-funded models focused on expanding childcare centres and employer-provided childcare could alleviate the burden of care on young women and create over 11 million jobs by 2030.

With agriculture, education, food and accommodation, trade, wholesale, and retail sectors among Africa’s highest employers of young women, the foundation advocated for the roll-out of apprenticeships and boot camps to accelerate women’s participation in those high-growth areas.

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