Despite political shifts across Africa, the representation of women and youth in national parliaments remains low. At the current pace, gender parity in African legislatures will not be achieved until 2100, according to Futurelect.
In 2024, women held just 23% of parliamentary seats in Kenya, a marginal increase over the past decade. Youth representation remains low due to systemic and financial barriers.
In South Africa, women occupy 44,5% of National Assembly seats, making South Africa one of the continent’s leaders in gender representation. However, young leaders still struggle to enter the political arena.
In July 2024, Ghana’s parliament passed the Affirmative Action Gender Bill to increase women’s representation to 30% by 2030. However, with women currently making up less than 15% of parliament, urgent action is needed to ensure this target is met.
Across Africa, progress is slow. Botswana’s 2024 elections brought a historic opposition victory but little change in women’s parliamentary representation. Namibia elected its first female president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, yet women held parliamentary seats and did not see a corresponding increase. Angola continues to lag in both female and youth political participation.
The barriers are clear: socio-economic exclusion, cultural biases, and entrenched political structures favouring older established male figures. Without decisive interventions — such as gender quotas, financial support for young and women candidates, and civic education to activate public and youth participation — Africa will not see fair representation in its parliaments for another 75 years.
Founded in 2018 in Johannesburg, Futurelect is a non-profit and public benefit organisation that aims to transform political and government leadership across Africa.