Kinshasa: The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released its Global Gender Gap Report 2025, revealing that seven African countries are ranked among the ten lowest worldwide in terms of gender parity.
According to Global Voices, in this latest edition, Pakistan is at the very bottom, ranked 148th out of 148 economies with a gender parity score of 56.7 percent. Following Pakistan, Sudan, Chad, and Iran occupy the next lowest positions. Other African countries in the bottom ten include Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Niger, Algeria, and Mali.
Despite these challenges, some African nations demonstrate progress. Liberia, Eswatini, Zambia, and Nigeria rank among the top 25 globally in this economic category, while Sub-Saharan Africa shows improvement in educational attainment. This region ranks eighth with a score of 85.6 percent, largely due to better enrolment parity across all education levels.
Botswana, Lesotho, and Namibia are among the few countries worldwide that have achieved full parity in educational attainment. In the health and survival subindex, several African nations also lead globally with high parity scores.
On the political front, Sub-Saharan Africa ranks fifth in political empowerment, with Ethiopia leading the continent. Rwanda stands out as the only African nation with full parliamentary gender parity. However, countries like Nigeria and Sudan remain among the lowest globally in political empowerment.
The situation in the DRC deserves particular attention. Despite its natural wealth, the DRC faces severe gender disparities, ranking 143rd on the Global Gender Gap Index. Women in the DRC face significant barriers in political inclusion and are disproportionately affected by climate shocks, affecting their roles in the agricultural workforce.
Recent trends in the report show that Benin recorded the most significant improvement on the continent, while Zambia also made notable progress. Conversely, countries like Togo, Sierra Leone, and Mozambique saw declines in their rankings.
Globally, the gender gap has slightly narrowed from 68.4 percent to 68.8 percent in 2025, driven by improvements in political empowerment and economic participation. Iceland continues to lead the index, marking the 16th year at the top, though no economy has achieved full gender parity yet. At this pace, it will take 123 years to achieve global gender parity.