Nigeria scored 63.1 out of 100 on the Women, Business, and the Law (WBI) 2021 index. Though this indicates progress, there is still more to be done.
The country’s score is below the Sub-Saharan African average of 71 and the global average of 76.1.
Globally, 2.4 billion women lack economic rights as men and, as such, are deprived in the business environment. The WBI 2022 report states that women face job restrictions in 66 countries, and there is no guarantee of equal pay in 95 countries.
Nigeria enacted three of eight reforms to move from 48.8 in 1971 to 63.1 in 2021. The current score of the country is attributed to legal reforms in the country’s central business city, Lagos.
Between 1972 and 2017, the business city of the country enacted five laws that protect women in business. These laws cover just three areas – assets, marriage, and the workplace.
Overall, while the country performed above average in five of the eight areas, there is still a lot of improvement needed to achieve equality in the country.
Mobility – 50/100
Nigeria scored 50 out of 100 in the mobility indicator as women cannot choose freely where to live the same way as men. Also, there exist some requirements and documentation proofs that women need to tender in passport applications.
Women were required to provide a letter of consent and marriage certificate before being issued a passport. In light of this, no law has been put forward to equalise passport applications for both men and women.
Mobility restrictions limit women’s ability to build networks and exchange vital information on market opportunities, which prevents them from maximising their full potential.
Workplace – 75/100
At 75 out of 100, the workplace indicator shows progress. The 2011 law on sexual harassment in employment with penalties nationalised in 2015 makes the country one of the 36 countries to introduce sexual harassment law since 1971. Also, there are no restrictions on women from getting jobs.
However, there still exists some gap as there is no clear punishment for sexual harassment.
Pay – 50/100
Globally, pay has the second-lowest performance as some form of segregation exists in the gender wage gap. Eighty-eight countries restrict the jobs women can do, and 99 are yet to have an equal mandate on remuneration for work set by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Equal Remuneration Convention No. 100 of 1951.
With a score of 50/100, Nigeria constitutes one of the countries with an equal mandate for pay, but it does not measure to the ILO standard. One factor that limits the country from achieving a perfect score is that women are not allowed to work at industrial duties at night or in underground mines.
This is based on the labour law of 1970, which contradicts ILO standards.
Marriage – 100/100
The 2007 passage of Nigeria’s Protection Against Domestic Violence Law of Lagos State placed women on an equal footing with men on the marriage front. This law prohibits violence against and grants court protection orders to victims. This law was nationalised in 2015 with the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Bill.
These enabled the country to get a perfect score in the marriage indicator.
Parenthood – 0/100
Nigeria does not provide maternal leave of at least 14 weeks to mothers, and also it is short of the 100% maternity leave benefits. Wonen in the country are only entitled to 12 weeks maternity leave based on Section 54 of Nigeria’s Labour Act, two weeks short of ILO standard.
This made the country score zero in the parenthood ranking. And by extension, Nigeria is among the lowest-scoring economies in the region.
Entrepreneurship – 75/100
This indicator analyses the constraint on women starting and running a business. It encompasses equal access to financial transactions and entrepreneurial activities.
Although it has most of these in place, Nigeria is yet to make necessary changes to address discrimination to credit access. This singular factor affects the country’s ranking, scoring 75 out of 100 in this indicator.
Assets – 80/100
In this indicator, Nigeria had some issues which affected its overall performance in attaining a perfect score. Legacy legislation reflecting the traditional roles of spouses during the marriage and at its dissolution affected its score.
There is no provision for a monetary contribution to childcare and domestic work, which usually fall disproportionately on women.
The asset indicator examines the inherent differences in property inheritances that allow women to leverage assets for economic gains. Nigeria scored 80 out of 100.
Pension – 75/100
Nigeria has the same retirement age for both men and women, but the period away from work due to maternity leave is not accounted for. The recognition of this period allows retirement savings to grow while on care leave.
The pension care credit for child care periods has been established in 24 of the 48 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The inability of Nigeria to establish this affects the country’s score, recording 75 out of 100 in the pension indicator.
Nigerian women have enjoyed increased socioeconomic status owing to the reforms enacted. However, there exist gaps to build that need to be filled. Thirty-seven percent of the 35 practices measured by the WBL are open to improvement. Prioritising these problem areas will enable equality.
While enacting the laws will ensure progress, implementing these laws is even more important for the entrenchment of equal rights.
Equal opportunities for women have a significant impact on economic outcomes.