Source: Journalist's Resource
As is the case in many developing countries — as well as in advanced economies such as the United States – women in sub-Saharan Africa still often lack access to the same chances for economic success as their male counterparts. 

While there has been some progress on the third Millennium Development Goal to "promote gender equality and empower women," as indicated in the 2013 Millennium Development Goals Report, there is still a long way to go when it comes to equal education and economic opportunities for women.

This economic marginalization has been the result of various historical and cultural factors, and research in this discipline is revising a number of assumptions. In a 2012 policy working paper for the World Bank, "The Contribution of African Women to Economic Growth and Development: Historical Perspectives and Policy Implications Part I: The Pre-Colonial and Colonial Period," Harvard University historian Emmanuel Akyeampong and World Bank economist Hippolyte Fofack provide a contextual overview of gender discrimination throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They conclude that it is necessary to go back further in African history to the pre-colonial period in an effort to understand the true roots of gender inequality:

[F]or a number of reasons, including data gaps, efforts to understand the gender inequality dynamics and models developed to that effect have often focused on the post-colonial and post-independence period. Consequently, these models have neglected the deeper historical understanding of processes which have shaped the gender relations and dynamics that emerged in the years following independence in Africa. This myopic approach to research also implicitly assumes that gender relations have essentially followed a uniform path, with men consistently and invariably dominating and overpowering women throughout Africa, irrespective of the historical period.

Policymakers and economists underscore that this ongoing inequality is not just damaging for women, but for the continent's economic prospects. In a 2013 report — "Women and trade in Africa" — the World Bank highlights the important role women can play in the economic development due to their heavy involvement in producing trade-able goods and services. However, they are often relegated to informal economies because of their lack of access to finance and male-dominated networks. The report cites estimates from International Labour Organization (ILO) indicating that about 62.5% of women were employed in agriculture compared to 61.8% of men: "Yet the potential for women farmers to contribute to the expansion of traditional agricultural exports appears to have been undermined by their limited access to key production inputs relative to male farmers." The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that "closing the yield gap by providing women with resources equal to those available to men would increase agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5 to 4 percent."

To highlight new research on gender and development in Africa, in December 2012, the Nairobi-based African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) hosted a workshop for scholars to present recent studies on the subject. In January 2014, the four papers presented were published in a supplement of the Oxford University Journal of African Economies. In an overview and introduction to the papers, authors Damiano K. Manda and Samuel Mwakubo (AERC) summarize the importance of addressing the role of women in economic development:

Gender equality matters as an instrument for development as it enhances economic efficiency and improves other development outcomes in three ways. First, it removes barriers that prevent women from having the same access as men to education, economic opportunities and productive inputs resulting in broad productivity gains. Second, it improves women's absolute and relative status which feeds in many other development outcomes, including those for their children. Third, it levels the playing field with women and men having equal chances to become socially and politically active, making decisions and shaping policies.

The papers cover a range of topics, including macroeconomic policy recommendations, effective strategies for measuring the gender wealth gap, and the societal responsibility of caring for dependents. (Additional resources on gender inequality throughout the world include the OECD's Social Institutions and Gender Index, the UNDP's Gender Inequality Index, and the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report.)

For more on the papers, click here.