These six numbers show Nigeria’s persisting gender gap

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 aims to achieve gender equality for all by 2030, but Nigeria still has a long way to go in achieving gender parity.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), gender parity has a significant impact on economic development in any society.

Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) could grow by 23 percent or $229 billion by 2025 if women participated in the economy to the same extent as men, notes a McKinsey report.

To achieve this, Nigeria would need to pay attention to its widening gender inequality gap.

21%

Nigerian women hold only 21 percent of board directorships of the NSE’s top 20 companies by market capitalisation, according to a report by the Professional Women Roundtable (PWR).

The report shows that out of the 230 board seats in total, only 48 seats are held by women (21%) and 182 seats are held by men (79.1%).

The report also highlights that out of the 20 companies; only three are chaired by women. These companies are Access Bank, Union Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank.

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According to a report by McKinsey, at a corporate level, African companies with at least 25 percent female representation on their boards had a 20-percent higher than industry average earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin.

6%

Nigerian women have the lowest proportion of female lawmakers on the African continent with just 6 percent of seats in the national parliament held by women compared to an average of 15 percent across sub-Saharan Africa, according to data from the Geneva-based group.

This participation level is low, especially when compared to Rwanda, where women representation in the parliament accounts for 61.3 percent in the Lower House and 38.5 percent in the Upper House.

According to the United Nations, only five out of the 73 candidates that ran for the office of the president in 2019 were women.

Also, out of about 3,000 women in political parties, only 64 got elected in offices in 2019.

22 million

Nigeria has the highest number of child brides in the West African region and the 11 highest rates of child marriages globally with an estimated 22 million child bride in the country.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), about 44 percent of Nigeria’s female population are married before their 18th birthday compared to 3 percent of boys before the age of 18.

12 million

The latest unemployment data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show women were the worst hit with 12.2 million unemployed females compared to 9.5 million unemployed men

According to the NBS, female unemployment has risen to 31.6 percent in the second quarter of 2020 from 26.6 percent in the third quarter of 2018.

60%

According to the United Nations, Nigeria has one of the highest out-of-school children in the world, at 14 million, and 60 percent of this population are girls. More worrisome is the 30 percent of girls aged 9-12 years who have never been to school at all.

These girls are out of school as a result of issues such as poverty, child marriage and discriminatory social norms.

The issue is more prevalent in Northern Nigeria as families do not see value in sending their girls to school, and will choose to marry them off to ease the economic burden on the family.

70%

Nigeria overtook India as the World Poverty capital in 2018 with over 89 million of its people wallowing in extreme poverty. According to the World Poverty Clock, over 70 percent of this population are women who make up slightly less than 50 percent of the Nigerian population.