Representation & Gender in Africa: Role of Women in Leadership
From time immemorial, women’s participation in governance with men is one of the greatest challenges in human history. Women are more likely to be welcome in active participation in the economic and social sectors, than in the political governance arena of power. Decision-making and leadership are considered as a natural prerogative of men, and where women’s participation is usually perceived as an over-reach, and an attempt to usurp men’s predestined leadership role.
Why do men feel threatened by women’s participation in political arenas of power, and leadership? The answer lies in a patriarchal culture, which generates mindsets that consider men as born leaders and decision-makers.
Culture-driven worldviews and mindsets assign, from womb to tomb higher gender human being value (GHBV) to boys and men. This culturally driven disparity in gender human being valuation of girls and women, boys, and men, is generally exhibited in announcing the birth of a baby boy with pomp and pageantry. For instance, the Akan of Ghana birth announcement epitomizes the higher human value of a baby boy to that of a baby girl in these words “Wawo Nnipa” meaning “she has given birth to a human being”, implying that a baby boy has 100 percent human being value.
The birth of the baby girl, who like her mother, a woman is not 100 percent human being is hardly celebrated with the same pomp and pageantry, and her birth may even precipitate a marriage breakup.
Photo Credit: Ian Kiragu
The disparity in human valuation of men and women generates almost all gender gaps girls and women suffer, gaps in rights, leadership, power, land, pay, etc. This disparity also determines men and women’s differential rights and access to governance, leadership, and development.
Numerous efforts have been expended, presumably in good faith, in promoting gender equality and women leadership through multilateral institutions like the United Nations (UN), regional and national entities. However, these institutions have not paid full attention to the culture-driven disparity in gender human being valuation of men and women and the gender gaps this valuation generates as a major impediment in achieving and sustaining the goals of gender equality or equity.
It is therefore not surprising that all these efforts because they are designed and implemented within a framework that ignores girl and women human being value gaps, can only achieve limited desired outcomes. This situation can threaten the attainment of the goals and various time frames predicted for achieving substantial or complete gender equality, even those in global development agendas like MDGs and SDGs. For instance, the International Labour Organization (ILO) commitment to eliminate the gender pay gap made at the founding of the ILO in 1919 has not been achieved to date.
Africa’s post-colonial governance and development challenges further exacerbate women’s access to representation and leadership informal spheres. The greatest challenge to African development is managing its wholesale and indiscriminate adoption of the western egocentric and homocentric worldview that creates and sustains male-only governance and development approaches. This wholesale adoption suppressed the African traditional Ubuntu ethnocentric worldview of the group (men and women), aptly expressed in the “we-ism “of John Mbiti, and Africa’s belief in the cosmology of duality (twos and pairs) that must maintain balance in all forms of human life and activities, including in governance and development.
These beliefs enabled African communities to practice in varying degrees dual-sex (men and women shared) governance and leadership models in which men still maintained some superiority. However, women had a culturally recognized public, and visible role in governance and development. Sociologists and historians, Okonjo, Acholonu, Amadiume, Cheik Anta Diop documented the practice of dual sex (men and women shared) governance and development especially among the Igbos, Ashanti, and the Yoruba, Lovedu and others, as evidence of the pre-colonial existence of African women culturally legitimized representation and participation in governance, politics, and economies.
Sadly, the global development institutions and communities are also designing policies and agendas, in large part, based on the dominant male-only western governance and development models. Globalization of Western governance, development, and gender paradigms has generated some remarkable achievements, but it has also constrained the capacity of post-colonized countries to use their own traditional cultural concepts, systems, and tools in forging their authentic modern governance and development. Governance agendas that can effectively address their challenges, including gender inequalities and inequities, do not take place because of this.
Paradoxically, the same culture that drives gender inequality, inequity, and women’s rights abuses worldwide also can offer communities, including Africa, varying governance and development paradigms that include gender partnerships and women participation in governance and development.
The book I co-authored on “Culture, Gender and African Women Leadership,” identified several pre-colonial African traditional enabling strategies that can be adopted and adapted to complement modern efforts to promote not only gender equality and equity, but also a modern African gender-responsive governance and development that can harmoniously integrate African and western positive elements. The two most important of the traditional enablers of gender equality and women leadership are:
Ethnocentric Ubuntu philosophy and belief in the cosmology of duality were the hallmarks of pre-colonial African traditional governance and development that required inclusive participation for all community indigenes (male or female). It ensured some equity and fairness in the balance of powers between the two sexes and guaranteed unity, peace, and security of the communities.
Dual sex (men and women shared) governance integrated the principles of the cosmology of duality and the Ubuntu philosophy of “we-ism”. This in many pre-colonial communities encouraged and legitimized men and women shared decision making, shared leadership, shared management, shared responsibility, shared accountability; and fair resources sharing approaches in governance and development. This did not mean there was 100 percent equality between men and women, but it gave women a tremendous opportunity to participate as legitimate albeit junior members in governance and development.
These pre-colonial enablers of gender equality and equity are still sustaining post-colonial women’s representation and leadership in the informal sector of governance and development; and are providing incentives and guidelines for addressing women’s equitable participation in modern governance.
Ironically the best opportunities for women entry and sustenance in dual-sex (men and women shared) governance and leadership usually occur during national conflicts or crises when the countries must reset their governance structures from ground zero and are forced by stark realities to include women in reconciliation and reconstruction initiatives.
In those moments, men rely heavily on the traditional role of African women in peace-building and conflict resolution. Astute leaders seize these rare opportunities to consolidate the partnership between men and women and put in action the African tradition-like dual-sex (men and women shared) governance and development models. This approach, in most cases, has resulted in an inclusive governance that has propelled a quantum leap in the development processes of several post-conflict or post-crisis countries. Rwanda is the best case in point, Liberia under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Sierra Leone, and South Africa.
Way Forward
Leadership skills and development efforts generally take into consideration the gender dimension of leadership but do not sufficiently address the cultural dimension of gender that regulates women’s access to leadership. It is important to address women’s leadership within the ambit of culture and gender to identify the gender and cultural dis-enablers and enablers that impact women empowerment, leadership, and gender equality.
Africans, especially the men must realize that their pre-colonial ancestors practiced various forms of gender equity and partnership in their governance and development systems, built on their worldviews and gender paradigms. These were not western ideas and imports. However, today Africans must accept the cultural hybridity of their governance and development models that must incorporate African and western cultures.
They must therefore find ways to integrate the traditional enablers of shared men and women participation in governance, and the strong partnership between them into modern governance and development, especially during this period of seemingly intractable national crises, conflicts and insecurities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The traditional practices of dual-sex (men and women shared) governance and gender partnership have a great potential to facilitate gender equality and women’s leadership and representation in modern governance in African countries. It seems like Rwanda, South Africa, and Ghana are successfully adopting this strategy, so is the African Union (AU) in its practice of gender parity policies.
Traditional dual sex (men and women shared) governance was not a perfect model as it was tilted in favor of the men. Nevertheless, complementing the ongoing modern initiatives on gender equality with the dual sex (men and women shared) governance and gender partnership strategies can contribute to a worldwide effort to close the GHBV gap that drives all other gender gaps and abuses women suffer.
Women can only lead complementarily and synergistically with the men as equal human partners only if there is strong willpower and commitment from men to recognize women full 100 percent gender human being value that drives all gender gaps, and only if women can collectively adopt strategic actions to claim their 100 percent human worth from the men.
This will require massive and drastic mindsets shifts for men and women, with men recognizing their equal stakeholder-ship with women in the gender equality project and welcoming a complementary gender partnership with women to address gender equality. This approach offers a strong chance of enhancing women’s representation and men and women shared leadership roles in governance that benefits both.
Amadi-Njoku is a development expert, former United Nations Assistant Secretary General/ILO (Rtd.) & Founder Other Half Empowerment Initiative (Other Half)