IMF Urges Sub-Saharan Africa to Close Gender Gaps, Predicts Potential 30% GDP Boost

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African nations to prioritise closing gender gaps, emphasising that improving women’s economic participation could lift Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in countries in the region by 30 per cent.

The Deputy Director, IMF African Department, Catherine Pattilloa, and Economist, Africa Department, IMF, Athene Laws, stated this during separate presentations of the IMF Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa Fall 2024 Issue, titled ‘Reforms Amid Great Expectations’, held at the Lagos Business School (LBS).

The event had a panel session with leading economists and policy experts such as the Director, CEO, Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane; Chief Economist, Nigeria Economic Summit Group, (NESG), Olusegun Omisakin, LBS Public Sector Initiative/Senior Faculty, Franklin Ngwu, and Chief Executive Officer Renaissance Capital Africa, Samuel Sule, gathered to proffer solutions for Nigeria’s economy recovery.

Speaking on the importance on reducing gender disparity to financial inclusion and economic activities and opportunities, Laws said, “Most Sub-Saharan African countries have made significant strides in reducing gender inequality over the past two decades. However, a range of obstacles, including restricted access to opportunities through legal rights, education, health, and finance, continue to constrain women’s and girls’ potential. Empowering women and girls can create a powerful, inclusive growth engine for Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Closing gender gaps in female labour force participation alone could increase GDP by 10 per cent, and by up to 30 per cent in the countries with the largest gaps. It’s particularly important to increase women’s access to productive, secure jobs. Our policy recommendations include removing the remaining legal constraints, making sure that girls stay in school, including by addressing harmful practices such as child marriage, and improving financial and digital access for women.

“Applying a gender lens to macroeconomic policy and structural reforms will significantly increase policy effectiveness,” she reiterated.

For her part, Pattilloa said, “The real hurdles to women being more active in the labour market in economic participation, business etc., those hurdles are still very much there. A large share of women is in the informal sector, much higher than men.

“The access to financial services and the ability to use assets is still constrained.

“Let us eliminate policy-induced distortions. So still working to make sure that laws push for more equality and existing laws for gender equality are enforced.”

Also, at the panel discussions, the experts shared insights on strategic pathways for economic recovery in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.

They reiterated the need to address long-standing constraints such as energy deficits, inadequate job creation, and food insecurity.

The experts emphasised targeted reforms aimed at strengthening macroeconomic stability, boosting productivity, and enhancing competitiveness.

Rewane, underscored that without a drastic overhaul of Nigeria’s power infrastructure, growth would remain stunted, as the nation continues to operate at a limited output of 4,000-5,000 megawatts.

He called for immediate short-term interventions to clear power sector debt overhangs and expand metering for revenue collection.

He said: “Productivity is a function of scale, technology, and power. Nigeria is still hovering around 4,000 to 5,000 megawatts, which has been the power transmission from the grid 20 years ago, and it is still the same 20 years later. Something dramatic has to happen about the power supply. There should be some short-term solutions that can address this, including the debt overhang of the power distribution companies. Secondly, the metering so you can get money into it. And every 1,000 megawatts increase can lead to a corresponding increase in output.”

Meanwhile, Omisakin, stressed the need for job-centred growth strategies, urging policymakers to bridge the gap between growth and job creation.

He pointed out that agriculture and non-traditional services already provide 80 per cent of Nigeria’s jobs, underscoring the importance of supporting these sectors through sectoral planning and workforce-focused policies.

Omisakin warned that income disparity and unemployment in regions like Maiduguri and Abuja, where per capita income differences exceed tenfold, could further fuel social tensions.

He said: “For us in Nigeria, reforms most be accelerated. We must address the issue of governance. We must take some very, drastic steps on a lot of those issues, dealing with power supply, telecommunications, digital technologies, security, and so on.

“And also, we must be able to redistribute income opportunities, so that you don’t have a wide variance where you have the income per capita in Maiduguri at about $800, and the income per capita in Abuja place $9,000. That’s too wide and that is what is leading to resentment and potential for crisis.”

Furthermore, Ngwu, urged for an Africa-tailored development framework, focusing on energy, agriculture, and industrialisation.

He said: “we need to improve competitiveness, and improve governance. In terms of improving competitiveness, there are certain areas that Africa should focus on. Then we look at agriculture and say, which countries are doing well in agriculture and we learn from them as well. Then we don’t look at maybe industrialisation.”

He advised that with the African Continental Free Trade Area gaining momentum, the importance of integration to drive intra-African trade, enhance regional competitiveness, and uplift living standards across the continent.

Nume Ekeghe and Oluchi Chibuzor

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