Argument: Women provide a platform for economic development

Where women in Africa are treated more as equals and are being given political power there are benefits for the economy. Africa is already surging economically with 6 out of the world’s ten fastest growing economies in the past decade being a part of sub-Saharan Africa [1] .

While some of the fastest growing economies are simply as a result of natural resource exploitation some are also countries that have given much more influence to women. 56% of Rwanda’s parliamentarians are women. The country’s economy is growing; its poverty rate has dropped from 59% to 45% in 2011 and economic growth is expected to reach up to 10% by 2018. Women become the driving force of the socio-economic development after the 1994 genocide with many taking on leadership roles in their communities. [2]

In Liberia, since Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took the presidency seat on January 2006, notable reforms have been implemented in the country to boot the economy, and with visible results. Liberia’s GDP has grown from 4.6% in 2009 to 7.7% by the end of 2013.

Men in Africa on the other hand have often lead their countries into war, conflict, discord, and the resulting slower economic growth. Men fight leaving women behind to tend the household and care for the family. Giving women a greater voice helps encourage longer term thinking and discourages conflict, one of the main reasons for Africa’s plight in the second half of the 20th century. The feminisation of politics has been identified by Stephen Pinker as one of the causes for a decline in conflict. [3] When peace brings economic growth women will deserve an outsize share of the credit.

[1] Baobab, ‘Growth and other things’, The Economist, May 1st 2013 http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2013/05/development-africa

[2] Izabiliza, Jeanne, ‘The role of women in reconstruction: Experience of Rwanda’, UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SHS/pdf/Role-Women-Rwanda.pdf

[3] Pinker, S., The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, 2011

Candidate 1: "While it is true that the quota of women in African politics is growing, it is still a far stretch from the control needed to have a credible influence on the economy. It is true; they have high representation in Rwanda, in South Africa, in Liberia and Malawi [1] . But the rest of the continent is lacking in women representation.

Africans appear to not be ready to empower their women; the overall representation of women in the continent is lower than in Europe or North America.

Politics is also not always central to running the economy. There may be women in parliament but do they have an influence on the economy as ministers? In South Africa only 19% of board members are women and they make up less than 20% of top management positions. [2] The future for Africa’s economy hinges not on the representation of women in politics but in investments, good resource managements, developing infrastructure and a cleansing of the system of corruption.

[1] The Economist, ‘Africa’s female politicians: Women are winning’, 9 November 2013, http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21589490-quota-systems-are-transforming-african-parliaments-women-are-winning

[2] Thorpe, Jen, ‘Why are there still so few female leaders?’, women24, http://www.women24.com/CareersAndMoney/AtWork/Why-there-are-so-few-women-in-leadership-positions-20140331"
Candidate 2: "There is little reason to believe Africa will follow the path that western countries have when it comes to the role of women. Change could come much more quickly than expected. Already there are African countries that have most women in Parliament; Rwanda has by far the highest percentage in the world with 63.8% of seats in the lower house taken by women with three other African countries (South Africa, Seychelles, and Senegal) in the top 10. [1] If Africa, with the exception of the North, has accepted women in politics much faster than the west there is little reason to assume the same won’t happen with business.

[1] ‘Women in national Parliaments’, Inter-Parliamentary Union, 1 February 2014, http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm"
Candidate 3: "Neither education not infrastructure can discount the possibility of women being key to the economic future. Yes infrastructure is needed before many businesses can reach their full potential. But the same limits are on men and women. The lack of infrastructure does not necessarily mean that men will be the ones who benefit. Nor can we be certain that Africa will develop through building infrastructure in the manner than China has. Some infrastructure may become unnecessary; for example there is now no need to build extensive systems of landlines as a result of the use of mobile phones. Other technologies in the future may make other large scale infrastructure projects less necessary – for example community based renewable energy.

Similarly education is not destiny; those who do not go to university may well contribute as much as those who do. Moreover this education gap simply shows that when it is closed the impact from women will be all the greater."
Candidate 4: "Women do indeed work on small farms, but it is this very size that means they will not be key to the future. A 2.5-4% increase in agricultural production is not much. Even with agriculture as a third of the economy this is only a one off 1% increase in GDP.

This small size is also the reason they do not get loans and the opportunity to develop the land or business; they are not profitable over the long term. Subsistence farming is necessary and investing to create some surplus is beneficial but it will not have sufficient impact.

Instead women need to be taken out of their traditional role where they are the caretakers of the family. They are not the future for Africa’s economy just because they are fulfilling their traditional role, quite the opposite. The fact that women still continue to work in agriculture and they have yet to stand out in the more competitive areas of the economy shows that they are not ready yet to have an impact over the economy, and that this job, securing the future of Africa’s economy as a whole, is still in the hands of men."
Candidate 5: "An increase in literacy does not necessarily translate into greater economic participation by women in the future. Yes more women are being educated but it is not just a lack of education that hinders them. It also requires infrastructure and facilities that are missing in almost every African country, especially in the rural areas. For all of these to happen, first there needs to be political stability [1] . Discrimination against women also needs to go, as proposition has already pointed out in agriculture where women provide the workforce they don’t keep the benefits of their labour; the same could happen in other sectors too.

[1] Shepherd, Ben, ‘Political Stability: Crucial for Growth?’, LSE.ac.uk, http://www.lse.ac.uk/IDEAS/publications/reports/pdf/SU004/shepherd.pdf"
Candidate 6: "While Africa has huge reserves of natural resources they are not its economic future. Mining employs few people and provides little value added to the economy. Also not every African country has natural resources to exploit while all have people, including the currently underutilised women, who could with better education bring about a manufacturing or services economy. Such an economy would be much more sustainable rather than relying on resource booms that have in the past turned to bust."

While it is true that the quota of women in African politics is growing, it is still a far stretch from the control needed to have a credible influence on the economy. It is true; they have high representation in Rwanda, in South Africa, in Liberia and Malawi [1] . But the rest of the continent is lacking in women representation.

Africans appear to not be ready to empower their women; the overall representation of women in the continent is lower than in Europe or North America.

Politics is also not always central to running the economy. There may be women in parliament but do they have an influence on the economy as ministers? In South Africa only 19% of board members are women and they make up less than 20% of top management positions. [2] The future for Africa’s economy hinges not on the representation of women in politics but in investments, good resource managements, developing infrastructure and a cleansing of the system of corruption.

[1] The Economist, ‘Africa’s female politicians: Women are winning’, 9 November 2013, http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21589490-quota-systems-are-transforming-african-parliaments-women-are-winning

[2] Thorpe, Jen, ‘Why are there still so few female leaders?’, women24, http://www.women24.com/CareersAndMoney/AtWork/Why-there-are-so-few-women-in-leadership-positions-20140331
