A new global report has revealed that Rwandese women have access to more opportunities than their counterparts in Kenya.
According to the Female Opportunity Index 2021, Rwanda topped East Africa with 77 points followed by Kenya with 70 points. Tanzania scooped 69.9 points while Uganda attained 69.5 points.
Kenya emerged second in East Africa while ranked sixth in Africa.
The study, carried out across 100 countries, is conducted by a German organisation, N26.
The report looked at various factors such as the number of women in government, women in management, salary level and the gender wage gap, female access to education as well as the number of females who have headed governments from the 1970s to the present.
Other factors include the number of women in entrepreneurship, women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), women's legislation, and the number of maternity leave days.
Alluding to the above factors, Kenya outranked Rwanda in only three categories: salary level and gender wage gap, female access to education as well as maternity leave days.
"Rwanda has the most women in government positions followed by Spain and Finland. Almost half of the countries (46 percent) in the index have had at least one female head of government in the last 50 years," read part of the report.
The report further indicated the need to look at factors that drive change for the female gender.
"As part of its mission to help people feel in control of their lives and finances. N26 commissioned the study to understand where it can champion change and make a difference by looking into workplace achievements, and the factors that drive female independence," read part of the report.
The contents of the report mirrored the recent Global Gender Gap Rankings report by the World Economic Forum.
According to the rankings, Rwanda also outranked Kenya scooping the seventh position globally as opposed to Kenya which emerged position 95.
The report weighed in on gender equality based on various factors such as employment opportunities, the attainment of education, empowerment of both genders in the political scene. The report also tracked the efforts initiated by countries in closing the gender gap.
This comes as women in Kenya have been advocating for equal rights in terms of leadership positions. This has seen a revolution where females have stepped up to stake their claims in different roles and become a voice in society.
