The importance of having women in government cannot be overstated as it directly relates to building a more equitable society with a diverse range of interests and issues being lodged on a state level.
Women bring a unique perspective and experience to governance that can lead to more comprehensive policies that better represent and serve all members of society. For much of humanity’s history, political leadership has been relegated to men, resulting in policies and laws that often overlook or marginalize the needs of women and other marginalized groups.
Having women in parliament is an important step towards achieving gender equality and creating a society that is more just and inclusive. Studies have shown that having more women in parliament leads to more policies that address issues affecting everyone, such as childcare, maternal health, and equal pay.
Additionally, women in parliament often bring focus on social issues such as education, healthcare, and poverty reduction, which can improve the lives of all citizens. In retrospect, women bring a balance to socio-economic topics which ultimately impact every member of society.
Based on this fact, more and more countries are becoming more politically inclusive, nominating and electing women into seats of power. But, it still begs the question of which countries in the world have made the most progress as it relates to political female inclusion.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a data platform for authoritative data on the parliaments of the world, publishes rankings of the percentage of women in national parliaments each month.
In commemoration of International Women’s Month, here are 10 African countries with the most female representation in politics, based on the IPU’s database. The database includes a total of 186 countries.
| Rank | Country | Elections | Seats | Women | % of Women in parliament | Global Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Rwanda | 09.2018 | 80 | 49 | 61.3 | 1st |
| 2. | South Africa | 05.2019 | 400 | 185 | 46.3 | 11th |
| 3. | Senegal | 07.2022 | 165 | 76 | 46.1 | 14th |
| 4. | Namibia | 11.2019 | 104 | 46 | 44.2 | 17th |
| 5. | Mozambique | 10.2019 | 250 | 108 | 43.2 | 19th |
| 6. | Cabo Verde | 04.2021 | 72 | 30 | 41.7 | 22nd |
| 7. | Ethiopia | 06.2021 | 472 | 195 | 41.3 | 25th |
| 8. | Burundi | 05.2020 | 123 | 47 | 38.2 | 34th |
| 9. | Tanzania | 10.2020 | 393 | 147 | 37.4 | 38th |
| 10. | Cameroon | 02.2020 | 180 | 61 | 33.9 | 49th |
This list contains just Lower or Single House parliamentary figures, the original list on the IPU's website contains a more comprehensive list containing details of Upper Chamber figures.