ASSESSING WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION TO NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (2)

Faith Akor’s Reflection on the role of women in Africa’s development process

Economic Trend

Economically, too, women are growing, especially in Africa, where it is believed that labour and
poverty are feminized (captured from the UN World Bank Report “poverty has a woman’s face)
and nearly two thirds of the world’s poor are female. Women have actually shifted grounds to
improve their status, reducing the poverty line. The question here is, how poor is the African
Nigerian woman? The answer lies in the fact that the informal economic activities of women in
Africa remain unrecognized or unaccounted for as indices for economic growth. Petty businesses
and/or small and medium enterprises owned and controlled by rural and urban women have,
most times, been relegated to the background, on the assumption that profits from such
businesses are too small. The role played by women in the informal sector and the contributions
they make to family life and development generally have cumulative effects that are, in recent
times, beginning to capture the attention of economic scholars.

Most of the erroneous notion held about the African woman, in terms of their economic status,
are either being generalized or, in most cases, not the actual facts on the ground. Women in
Africa may not have come up the ladder, but certainly are now down where they used to be.
Empirical studies on small enterprises owned and controlled by women in Africa have proven
that women control some level of wealth that is valuable to their day-to-day life and existence. It
is a well-known fact that women contribute substantially to agriculture and are indeed farmers.

In the past, women were wrongly referred to as “farm labourers” or just “housewives” assisting
their husbands. Their contributions were not adequately measured. This perceived role has
changed and is still changing. Women in Central Nigeria, for example, Tiv and Idoma women,
can now own lands in their name, where they farm and make money from harvest and storage.
Food crop production is synonymous to women in Africa. The increased part of women in
agricultural production is probably due to male participation in non-farm activity and waged
employment, as well as the breakdown of traditional patterns.

Significant changes have taken place in the status and role of women in Nigeria during past 50
years. In both pre-industrial and industrial societies, there is very strong correlation between the
education of women and employment. The level of women’s education determines their
positions in the labour force outside the agricultural sector. Women in wage-earning jobs in
Nigeria, according to the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, grew from 6.9% in 1970, 8.7% in
1980, 18% in 1994 and about 25% in 2010. The reason for this change in the status of women
has been the increase in education for women, as well as the dominance of women in some
professions like nursing/midwifery, for which women are favourably disposed. In the industrial
sector, even though employment is still male-dominant, women are being employed.

In recent times, women have taken up entrepreneurial roles in order to create a meaning for
themselves. Some of the factors responsible for these changes are better education, changing
socio-cultural values and need for supplementary income. When proper exposure, education and
knowledge are imparted, women prove to be a highly potent and productive force for national
and international development. Women entrepreneurs have come a long way in Africa and in
Nigeria, particularly. In urban areas more and more women are successfully running day-care
centres, placement services, schools, beauty parlors, fashion boutiques and foodstuff business. In
rural areas, self-help groups are empowering women to start their own micro-business. However,
in spite of the economic development implications of small and medium enterprises to Africa’s
economy, women entrepreneurship in terms of the informal sector has remained largely
unexplored. The contribution of these enterprises to African economies, as well as to poverty
reduction generally, has been greatly underestimated.

African women have been organizing themselves over the decades to respond creatively to
emerging conditions, as they become more conscious of their roles and their disadvantages.
Some women have become influential market women who trade within and across national
boundaries, importing foreign merchandise and exporting locally made goods abroad. All these
illustrate the fact that women in Africa are taking giant strides to turn the tide of poverty into
prosperity.

Conclusion

The status and roles of women in Africa have increasingly changed. To say that women in Africa
are the poor, marginalized and down-trodden, dependent population, without any form of
improvement in this 21st century, is to continuously recycle past reports about women. The fact
remains that women may not have completely overcome their past miseries; but they are not
where they used to be. It has become almost impossible to read literature on women without the
conclusion that women are backward and helpless, discriminated against and suffering. If
development generally is a gradual process, then women are developing. The status of women in
education, politics and economy has greatly improved, especially in Africa, where women
suffered lack of education and political participation.

The fundamental contributions of women to their households and national economies are
increasingly acknowledged within Africa and by the international community, mainly because of
their energetic efforts to organise and articulate their concerns. The 21 st century saw African
women gain access to political, economic and social rights. All these achievements are leading to
important changes in women’s lives. Their impacts on national economies are gradually being
recognized, but more opportunities are needed to fully develop their skills. A comprehensive
approach must be taken by governments, in conjunction with development agencies and women
themselves to improve their lots.