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African women continue to be the biggest contributors to the informal labour force in their<br />
pursuit of contributing towards economic development. Women have been confined to<br />
small-scale operations in the informal sector and hence their average incomes are relatively<br />
low<br />
Recent research by Pew Research Center showed that, on an analysis of labor statistics in 114<br />
countries, women made up 40% of the workforce in more than 80 countries globally. More<br />
surprisingly, the top 5 countries with the highest female representation in the workforce are<br />
all in Sub-Saharan Africa. Zimbabwe and Malawi lead the list with more than 52% of female<br />
share in the labor force, followed by The Gambia (50.8%), Liberia (50.6%) and Tanzania (50.5%)<br />
Despite this evolution, women are still largely underrepresented in leadership positions in<br />
various corporations hence a need for institutions to start grooming women for the workplace<br />
as early as they can. As women begin to occupy some powerful positions in the world,<br />
prioritizing access to higher education for African women remains essential to ensuring that<br />
they acquire the knowledge and advanced skills critical to take our seat at the table of global<br />
leadership.<br />
ALU definitely is playing a role in changing this narrative. Nearly half of the ALU student<br />
population comprises of females. However, looking closely reveals a less rosy picture and<br />
emphasizes that a lot more can be done to ensure that female students reach their optimum.<br />
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