The Women, Business and the Law 2022 Report released by the World Bank on March 1 indicates that Sub-Saharan Africa has a wide range of performance on the Women, Business and Law Index, ranging from 89.4 in Mauritius to 29.4 in Sudan.

According to the report, the region has implemented comprehensive reforms, achieving the second biggest improvement in the index last year. Gabon stands out, with comprehensive reforms of its civil code and the enactment of a law on the elimination of violence against women. These reforms gave women the same rights to choose where to live as men, to obtain jobs without the permission of their husbands, removed the obligation for married women to obey their husbands and allowed women to to be the head of the family in the same way as men.

Also in the Africa region, Angola has enacted legislation criminalizing sexual harassment in employment. Burundi has mandated equal pay for work of equal value. Benin removed restrictions on women's employment in construction. Women can now exercise industrial trades in the same way as men.

Sierra Leone made it easier for women to access credit by prohibiting gender discrimination in financial services. Togo introduced new legislation that no longer prohibits the dismissal of pregnant workers, thus reducing women's economic opportunities.