Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Recommendations for Business Action

Authors

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  Ouida Chichester

  Director, Energy, Extractives, Transport, and Industrials, BSR

  

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  Ouida Chichester

  Director, Energy, Extractives, Transport, and Industrials, BSR

  

  San Francisco

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  Ouida leads BSR’s Energy and Extractives practice. She applies her experience in international development to her work at BSR, where she advises global corporations across industries, but particularly extractives companies, on human rights; sustainable communities; inclusive economy; diversity, equity and inclusion; and women’s empowerment.

  She also previously supported BSR's HERproject.

  Prior to joining BSR, Ouida worked with the United Nations Development Programme in Belize, where she developed and contributed to projects on water governance, gender equality, and disability rights. She also has worked at Community Partners International, a nonprofit dedicated to the well-being of the people of Myanmar. Ouida helped build New Global Citizens, an organization dedicated to engaging U.S. youth in global philanthropy and activism. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador, she worked closely with youth, women, and grassroots organizations. She is fluent in Spanish.

  As a Rotary World Peace Fellow, Ouida obtained an M.A. in International Relations from the Universidad del Salvador. She also holds a B.A. in International Relations from Mount Holyoke College.

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• Jessica Davis Pluess

  Former Manager, BSR

• Michaela Lee

  Former Manager, BSR

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  Alison Taylor

  Senior Advisor, BSR

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  Alison Taylor

  Senior Advisor, BSR

  New York

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  Alison is Executive Director at Ethical Systems, a research collaboration on ethical culture, housed in New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business. Previously, Alison led BSR’s sustainability management practice and oversaw the supply chain practice and the Sustainable Futures Lab. She focuses on approaches to sustainability through risk management, strategy, stakeholder engagement, transparency, ethics and governance, and organizational change.

  Alison has also worked as a senior managing director at Control Risks, where she helped companies operate with integrity, particularly in high-risk environments, and for Transparency International, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and IHS Global Insight. She has experience in strategic intelligence, market entry assistance, risk consulting, due diligence, internal investigations, enterprise risk management, and ethics and compliance. She speaks and writes regularly on risk and organizational culture. She is a board member of the ethics organization Center for Business Ethics and Corporate Governance and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Transparency and Anti-Corruption. She is also an Adjunct Professor at NYU Stern School of Business.

  Alison holds an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago, an M.A. in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, and a B.A. in Modern History from Balliol College, Oxford University.

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Women’s economic empowerment is widely recognized by governments, international development institutions, and businesses globally as essential for human progress, thriving economies, and business success. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, women face deeply rooted obstacles to achieving their potential at work and in other aspects of life.

In this report, we aim to help companies advance women’s economic empowerment in their operations and across their value chains in sub-Saharan Africa. Our findings build on evidence that companies can receive clear business benefits from inclusive economic growth and gender equality and that the private sector, alongside other actors, has a key role in advancing women’s economic empowerment that goes beyond simply offering a woman a job.  

The report focuses on the economic, social, cultural, and political challenges facing women in the region and offers companies recommendations on how to promote women’s economic empowerment through their own actions and by enabling and influencing others. Our findings are based on our research of the apparel, mining, and mobile telecommunications industries in sub-Saharan Africa.

In addition to this main report, the research includes three industry briefs providing specific insights and recommendations for companies in the apparel, mining, and mobile telecommunications sectors.