Accelerating Action for Gender Equality: The barriers we must break

By Victoria Chelangat Sabula

Each year, International Women’s Day serves as a moment of reflection—a chance to celebrate progress while acknowledging the work that remains. The 2025 theme, "Accelerate Action," is a stark reminder that despite decades of advocacy, women’s participation in economic and social life has remained limited.

Rhetoric is not enough!

For years, gender equality has been a stated priority in global and national conversations. Yet, progress remains painfully slow, particularly in Africa’s emerging economies. Women face financial exclusion, limited market access, and underrepresentation in leadership. Outdated policies and cultural norms persist. To accelerate action, we must remove systemic barriers, redistribute resources, and redesign economic systems for women’s leadership.

The case for action

The benefits of gender parity are numerous and undeniable. Greater female participation accelerates economic growth, driving productivity and innovation. Women’s earnings strengthen household incomes, lifting families out of poverty. In high-growth sectors like agribusiness, renewable energy, and technology, women contribute to greater innovation. Gender parity also leads to higher business success rates, stronger local economies, job creation, and enhanced social and economic resilience.

Need for Urgency

Gender equality is often framed as a long-term goal—something to be worked toward gradually. But for millions of women in sub-Saharan Africa, the urgency is real. It is the difference between securing finance for a business or being shut out of economic opportunities. It is the difference between owning land or having to rely on male relatives to access credit. It is the difference between breaking into high-growth industries or being relegated to the informal sector, where wages are low, and protections are minimal.

Seven Barriers to Gender Equality - And How to Remove Them

Gender equality is not just a moral imperative- it is an economic necessity. To truly accelerate action, we must dismantle the seven most pressing barriers standing in the way of women’s economic empowerment.

1. Exclusion from Financial Systems - Women struggle to secure loans due to collateral requirements and traditional lending models that do not recognize their unique financial realities. Reforming collateral rules, expanding access to alternative credit options through blended finance, and integrating flexible lending models can ensure more women access the capital they need.
2. Restricted Market Opportunities - Many women-owned businesses remain small and informal, unable to integrate into regional and global supply chains. Implementing inclusive procurement policies, supporting women entrepreneurs in trade networks, and expanding digital marketplaces can help women scale their businesses and access broader economic opportunities.
3. Weak Policy Enforcement - Gender-inclusive laws often exist but remain poorly implemented, leaving women without real economic protections. Strengthening accountability mechanisms, ensuring that legal frameworks are enforced at all levels, and removing bureaucratic obstacles will ensure that policies translate into real change for women.
4. Legal Barriers to Ownership - Many women lack land and property rights, limiting their ability to secure financing and build sustainable businesses. Reforming inheritance and property laws, ensuring women’s equal land ownership rights, and streamlining legal procedures for asset registration will create a foundation for financial security and growth.
5. Social and Cultural Norms - Deep-rooted biases push women into low-paying, informal jobs while high-growth sectors remain male-dominated. Promoting female role models, investing in STEM education, and shifting perceptions about women’s economic roles through awareness campaigns will create new opportunities for women in leadership and innovation.
6. Underrepresentation in Leadership - Women remain under-represented in key decision-making roles in business and policy, limiting their influence on economic environments. Establishing gender-diverse leadership quotas, creating mentorship and sponsorship programs, and ensuring workplaces support women’s career advancement will help close the leadership gap.
7. Limited Gender-Focused Investment Strategies - Financial institutions continue to overlook women-led enterprises by failing to integrate gender considerations into mainstream investment strategies. Embedding gender-lens investing across financial markets, incentivizing investments in women-led businesses, and de-risking capital for gender-inclusive enterprises will ensure sustainable and large-scale funding for women entrepreneurs.

Now is the Time to Act

For too long, gender equality has been treated as a long-term aspiration rather than an immediate priority. But for the millions of African women struggling to access capital, for the entrepreneurs shut out of markets, and for the leaders fighting to be heard, the urgency is real.

Accelerating action means moving beyond rhetoric. It means financial institutions redesigning lending structures, policymakers enforcing gender-equitable laws, and businesses integrating women into supply chains, leadership, and investment portfolios.

Women do not need more promises. They need access, investment, and opportunity. The time to act is not next year or in the next development cycle. The time to act is now.

Victoria Chelangat Sabula is the CEO of AECF and a champion for women’s economic empowerment, impact investing, enterprise development, and financial inclusion.

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