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Women in parliament in Africa: Senegal at 41%, Nigeria under 5%. What quotas changed

Senegal's parity law keeps women at 41% of MPs; Nigeria, with no quota, is under 5%. What the 2021–2026 elections show about laws that work.

Africa 15 min read
Women in parliament in Africa: Senegal at 41%, Nigeria under 5%. What quotas changed – RFLD cover

Women hold 41.2% of seats in Senegal’s National Assembly after the November 2024 election, 68 of 165 MPs, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) [1][3]. In Nigeria, women hold about 4% of seats in the House of Representatives and 3 or 4 of the 109 Senate seats [14][17][27]. The main difference between the two countries is not culture or education. It is the law. Senegal has required parity on candidate lists since 2010. Nigeria has no quota, and a constitutional bill to reserve seats for women is still waiting for a vote ahead of the February 2027 elections [18][22].

Why the numbers matter

Parliaments vote budgets, write laws on violence, land and health, and check the government. When women are almost absent, those decisions are taken without them. Article 9 of the Maputo Protocol (2003) asks states to take positive action so that women participate equally in elections and decision-making. Few states have turned it into binding electoral rules.

Worldwide, women held 27.2% of parliamentary seats on 1 January 2025, up only 0.3 points in a year, the slowest progress since 2017 [11][12]. At a press conference on 6 March 2026, the IPU reported a global share of 27.5% and put sub-Saharan Africa at about 27.1%, just below the world average [13]. The IPU also found that countries with gender quotas averaged 31.2% women in 2024, against 16.8% in countries without them [11].

Africa shows both ends of that gap. Rwanda leads the world with 63.75% women in its lower chamber [10]. West Africa trails: the UN Economic Commission for Africa put it at 16.1% in 2021, the lowest of Africa’s sub-regions [15]. RFLD’s tracker puts the West African average at about 22% in 2026 [31].

How quotas work in practice

Not all quotas are the same. Three main types appear in the countries we reviewed.

  • Parity or candidate quotas in the electoral law. Parties must put a set share of women on their lists, and lists that break the rule are rejected. Senegal (50%, alternating men and women), Cabo Verde (at least 40% of each sex), Côte d’Ivoire (30%), Sierra Leone (one in three candidates) and Mali (no more than 70% of either sex) use this model [2][34][41][33][43].
  • Reserved seats. Some seats can only be won by women. Rwanda reserves 24 of 80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies [38]. Benin reserves one seat for a woman in each of its 24 constituencies since its 2019 constitutional revision [35]. Nigeria’s Special Seats Bill would follow this model.
  • Voluntary party quotas. In South Africa and Namibia, there is no legislated quota, but ruling parties apply their own rules: the ANC constitution requires at least 50% women, and SWAPO has a voluntary party quota [39][40].

Design matters as much as the type. A 30% target with no sanction changes little.

Cases and events, 2021 to 2026

2021

  • Africa-wide. On 1 April 2021, women held 2,622 of 10,510 seats in African parliaments, about 25%, up from 23% in 2018. Rwanda (61%), South Africa (46.5%) and Senegal (43%) led [15].
  • Cabo Verde. The first legislative election under the November 2019 parity law, which requires at least 40% of candidates of each sex, produced an Assembly where women held 44.4% of seats (32 of 72) [14][34].
  • Ethiopia. After the 2021 general election, women held about 42% of seats in the House of Peoples’ Representatives (41.9% in World Bank data based on IPU) [14][44]. Ethiopia has no legislated seat quota; Proclamation 1162/2019 offers parties financial incentives to field women [44].
  • Côte d’Ivoire. The first legislative election under Law 2019-870 (30% women among candidates) left women at 13.4% of the National Assembly [14][41].

2022

  • Nigeria, March 2022. The National Assembly voted down five gender equality bills during the constitution review, including one for special legislative seats for women [25][42].
  • The Gambia, April 2022. After the National Assembly election, women held 5 of 58 seats (8.6%). The Gambia has no quota law [14][45].
  • Senegal, July 2022. Women won 73 of 165 seats (44.2%), the highest share in any West African parliament at the time. Senegal ranked 4th in Africa and 18th in the world [6][7][8]. After replacements during the term, women held 77 seats (46.7%) [2][5].
  • Kenya, August 2022. The general election again failed to meet the Constitution’s rule that no more than two-thirds of an elective body may be of one gender. Women hold about 23% of seats [14][37].
  • Sierra Leone, 2022. Parliament adopted the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Act, which requires 30% of seats in public office to go to women. The Public Elections Act 2022, section 58(2), requires that one in every three candidates nominated by a party be a woman [33].

2023

  • Nigeria, February 2023. The general election returned a parliament in which women hold 3 of 109 Senate seats and about 15 to 17 of 360 House seats. Sources differ slightly: the IPU-based World Bank series gives 4.2%, the press gives 16 or 17 House members [14][17][27]. Across 36 State Houses of Assembly, women hold about 51 to 54 of some 990 seats, and 15 or 16 states have no woman legislator at all [17][28].
  • Sierra Leone, June 2023. The first election under the GEWE Act doubled the number of women in Parliament to 41 by July 2023 [33]. World Bank data based on IPU give 29.5% (44 of 149) [14].
  • Benin. With one reserved seat per constituency, the 2023 legislature had about 26.6% women, up from about 7% before the reform [14][31][35].
  • Liberia, 10 October 2023. Women won 8 of 73 House seats (11%). IPU records list no legislated quota or reserved seats for the House [36].

2024

  • Togo, April 2024. Legislative elections were held as the country moved to a new constitution. Figures for women differ by source: 15.0% in World Bank data and 21.6% (24 of 111) in RFLD’s 2026 update [14][30].
  • South Africa, May 2024. With voluntary party quotas only, women won about 45% of National Assembly seats, and a woman was elected Speaker on 14 June 2024 [39].
  • Rwanda, July 2024. Women won 51 of 80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (63.75%) [10][38].
  • Nigeria, July 2024. The Special Seats Bill (HB 1349), sponsored by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu and 12 others, passed second reading in the House. Its Senate version, SB 550, also passed second reading [18][28].
  • Ghana, September 2024. The President assented to the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024 (Act 1121), which sets a target of at least 30% women in key decision-making bodies, rising towards 50% [32].
  • Senegal, 17 November 2024. In the snap legislative election, PASTEF won 130 of 165 seats. Women won 68 seats (41.2%), down from about 46% in the outgoing Assembly [1][3][5][16]. UN Women reports 69 women (41.8%) [4]. Parity still held the floor high, but it did not prevent a drop.
  • Namibia, November 2024. Women won 44 of 104 National Assembly seats (42.3%), and Namibia elected its first woman president [12][40].
  • Ghana, December 2024. In the first election after Act 1121, women won 40 of 276 seats (14.5%). Women were only 12.8% of parliamentary candidates [32].

2025

  • Mali, May 2025. Military authorities dissolved all political parties. The quota in Law 2015-052 has no electoral effect while the National Transitional Council is appointed by decree. Women hold 40 of 133 CNT seats (30.1%) [43].
  • Burkina Faso and Niger. Appointed transitional bodies still replace elected parliaments, so Niger’s 2019 law (at least 25% of elected seats for either sex) cannot apply [30][46].
  • Nigeria, 4 August 2025. Deputy Speaker Kalu said the House would vote on the Reserved Seats for Women Bill when plenary resumed in October 2025 [24]. That vote was postponed several times [19].
  • Côte d’Ivoire, December 2025. Women won 38 of 255 National Assembly seats (14.9%), well below the 30% candidate quota [41].

2026

  • Benin, January 2026. Women won 28 of 109 seats (25.7%) in the second election with reserved seats. In the new Senate created by a November 2025 revision, women hold 2 of 25 seats [35].
  • Nigeria, February 2026. INEC set National Assembly elections for 20 February 2027 [18]. Women’s groups protested at the National Assembly on 16 February; the House spokesman promised the bill would be considered with other constitutional amendments [19][20]. Advocates warned that delay would push the reform to 2031 [17].
  • Burkina Faso, March 2026. The renewed Transitional Legislative Assembly has 11 women among 58 members (19.0%) [30].
  • Cabo Verde, May 2026. Women won 34 of 72 seats (47.2%) in the legislative elections, according to RFLD’s country profile [34].
  • Nigeria, June 2026. A revised text proposes 12 Senate seats (two per geopolitical zone), 37 House seats and 108 State Assembly seats for women [21]. Women rallied at the National Assembly on 11 June, but the bill was not called for a vote and was carried over to the session resuming on 7 July [22][23][29]. We found no published record of a final vote by late October 2026.

The data in one table

Latest verified figures for single or lower chambers. Counts change during a term; where sources disagree, both are given.

Country Last election (lower house) Women / seats Women % Quota type
Rwanda July 2024 51 / 80 63.75% Reserved seats (24) in Constitution [10][38]
Cabo Verde May 2026 34 / 72 47.2% (44.4% in 2021) Parity law 2019, min. 40% each sex [14][34]
South Africa May 2024 179 / 397 45.1% Voluntary party quota (ANC 50%) [14][39]
Namibia Nov 2024 44 / 104 42.3% Voluntary party quota [40]
Ethiopia 2021 n/a 41.9% Party funding incentives [14][44]
Senegal Nov 2024 68 / 165 41.2% Parity law 2010, zebra lists [1][3]
Mali Appointed CNT 40 / 133 30.1% Law 2015-052 (suspended in practice) [43]
Sierra Leone June 2023 44 / 149 (42 in 2026) 29.5% GEWE Act 2022 (30%), 1 in 3 candidates [14][33]
Benin Jan 2026 28 / 109 25.7% 24 reserved seats since 2019 [35]
Kenya Aug 2022 n/a 23.4% Two-thirds rule, not enforced [14][37]
Togo Apr 2024 17 / 113 or 24 / 111 15.0% to 21.6% Parity on lists [14][30]
Niger Appointed council 38 / 194 19.6% 25% law of 2019 (not applied) [46]
Burkina Faso Appointed ALT 11 / 58 19.0% 30% on lists (not applied) [30]
Côte d’Ivoire Dec 2025 38 / 255 14.9% 30% candidate quota, 2019 [41]
Ghana Dec 2024 40 / 276 14.5% Affirmative Action Act 2024 [32]
Liberia Oct 2023 8 / 73 11.0% No legislated quota [36]
The Gambia Apr 2022 5 / 58 8.6% None [45]
Nigeria Feb 2023 15–17 / 360 4.2% to 4.7% None; Special Seats Bill pending [14][27]

Two patterns stand out. Every country above 40% has either a legislated quota or a strong party quota. And laws only work when an election takes place under them: the quotas of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are frozen while appointed bodies replace parliaments.

What the law says, and the gaps

Senegal. Law 2010-11 of 28 May 2010 requires absolute parity on lists for all fully or partly elected bodies, and lists that do not comply are rejected [42]. The IPU describes the rule as alternating male and female candidates on both proportional and majority lists [2]. The gap: in the majority-vote districts, the winning list takes all seats, and men usually head lists, so an odd-numbered list often elects one more man than woman [5][8]. Parity also does not cover appointed posts, and in 2022 only two of fourteen parliamentary committees were chaired by women [9].

Cabo Verde. The 2019 parity law requires at least 40% of candidates of each sex. Women’s share rose from 44.4% to 47.2% in two elections [14][34].

Benin. The 2019 constitutional revision reserves one seat for a woman in each of 24 constituencies. It lifted women from about 7% to about 26%, but the share has not moved since, because few women win the general seats [31][35]. In October 2024, the CEDAW Committee asked Benin for 50:50 parity in all decision-making positions [35].

Sierra Leone. The GEWE Act and the Public Elections Act work together: a 30% target and one woman in every three candidates. Women MPs doubled in one election, but placement rules on lists remain unclear [33].

Ghana. Act 1121 sets a 30% floor for key decision-making bodies and requires gender-responsive budgeting [32]. It does not set a binding candidate quota for parliamentary elections, and the 2024 result (14.5%) shows that the target alone did not change party nominations.

Liberia. We could not verify, from the sources we opened, a binding gender quota in Liberia’s elections law. IPU records cited by RFLD list no legislated quota for the House, and the 2023 result (11%) matches that [36].

Kenya. The 2010 Constitution says no more than two-thirds of an elective or appointive body may be of one gender. Parliament has failed to pass a law to apply it despite several court orders [9][37]. A Gender Implementation Framework went to Parliament in 2024 with no reported outcome [37].

Nigeria. The Special Seats Bill would amend the 1999 Constitution. The original text created 182 seats: 37 in the Senate, 37 in the House and 108 in State Houses of Assembly, for four electoral cycles (16 years) before review [18][27]. The Senate pushed for fewer Senate seats, and the June 2026 version proposes 12 [21][27]. Even with all new seats filled, women would hold about 13.6% of National Assembly seats [27]. As a constitutional amendment, it needs two-thirds of both chambers and 24 of 36 State Houses of Assembly before assent [18][27]. Advocates have gathered more than one million citizen endorsements [28].

What RFLD asks for

  1. Nigeria: the National Assembly should put the Special Seats Bill to a recorded vote now, and State Houses of Assembly should ratify it quickly, so that it applies in 2027 rather than 2031.
  2. Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire: turn quota targets into binding candidate-list rules, with rejection of non-compliant lists and placement rules so women are not put in unwinnable positions.
  3. Senegal: extend parity to the heads of lists in majority-vote districts and to the bureau and committee chairs of the National Assembly.
  4. Liberia, The Gambia and Kenya: adopt and enforce a legislated quota or reserved seats before the next elections, as the Kenyan Constitution already requires.
  5. Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and other transitions: apply existing quota laws to appointed transitional bodies and to any future electoral law.
  6. All states: publish sex-disaggregated data on candidates and elected members within 30 days of each election, and report on Article 9 of the Maputo Protocol in periodic reports to the African Commission.
  7. All states and parties: fund women candidates and adopt laws against violence against women in politics, following the examples the IPU cites in Tunisia and Tanzania [13].

RFLD tools you can use today

Closing

The record of 2021 to 2026 is clear. Where the law forces parties to nominate women, as in Senegal, Cabo Verde, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, women’s share rises fast and stays high. Where the law only sets targets or says nothing, as in Ghana, Liberia, The Gambia and Nigeria, women remain below 15% and in some cases below 5%. Senegal’s drop from about 46% to 41% in 2024 shows that gains are never automatic. With Nigeria’s elections four months away, its lawmakers still have a choice to make.

References

  1. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Parline, “Senegal: National Assembly”, accessed 29 October 2026, ipu.org
  2. IPU Parline, “Senegal, National Assembly: data on women” (data of September 2022; quota description), accessed 29 October 2026, data.ipu.org
  3. International IDEA, “Democracy Tracker: Senegal, November 2024”, 2024, idea.int
  4. UN Women Open, “Senegal country results 2024”, 2025, open.unwomen.org
  5. IFES, “Elections in Senegal: 2024 snap legislative elections”, November 2024, ifes.org
  6. AFP via Briefly News, “Senegal leads way on women legislators but challenges ahead”, 9 September 2022, briefly.co.za
  7. Le360 Afrique, “Le Sénégal, bon élève de la parité en politique, mais peut mieux faire”, 9 September 2022, afrique.le360.ma
  8. Seneweb, “Rentrée parlementaire : parité, l’exception sénégalaise en Afrique de l’Ouest”, 12 September 2022, seneweb.com
  9. S. Ngom, S. Ba, C. Kioko and N. Egelhof, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, “Gender agenda: The big conundrum in the general elections in Kenya and Senegal”, 18 July 2022, boell.de
  10. IPU Parline, “Rwanda: Chamber of Deputies”, accessed 29 October 2026, ipu.org
  11. IPU, “Women in parliament 1995–2025” (press release), March 2025, ipu.org
  12. IPU and UN Women, “Political leadership roles in 2025: Men continue to dominate” (news release, data as of 1 January 2025), March 2025, ft.dk
  13. UN Geneva newsroom, “IPU press conference: report on women in parliament”, 6 March 2026, unognewsroom.org
  14. Geo Factbook, “Women in national parliaments 2025” (World Bank indicator SG.GEN.PARL.ZS, based on IPU data), updated 24 October 2026, geofactbook.com
  15. UN Economic Commission for Africa, “ECA fast facts: women, leadership and political participation”, 2022, uneca.org
  16. Pulse Uganda (C. Okafor), “Top 10 African countries with the highest number of female representation”, 27 March 2023, updated 17 November 2025, pulse.ug
  17. S. Aborisade, This Day via AllAfrica, “Nigeria: National Assembly and mounting pressure to reserve legislative seats for women”, 4 February 2026, allafrica.com
  18. S. Eboesomi, Premium Times via AllAfrica, “2027 election timetable: Women’s coalition urges NASS to pass Reserved Seats Bill before polls”, 15 February 2026, allafrica.com
  19. BusinessDay, “2027 elections: Women protest at NASS over stalling reserved seat bill”, 16 February 2026, businessday.ng
  20. News Agency of Nigeria, “NASS pledges action on Special Seats Bill”, 16 February 2026, nannews.ng
  21. Sahara Reporters, “Constitution amendment bill seeks creation of 12 new seats in Senate, 37 in Reps, 108 in State Assemblies”, 11 June 2026, saharareporters.com
  22. Sahara Reporters, “Nigerian women groups insist on passage of Reserved Seats Bill, rally at National Assembly”, 12 June 2026, saharareporters.com
  23. Voice of Nigeria, “TWG commends Reps’ progress on constitutional review”, 12 June 2026, von.gov.ng
  24. Voice of Nigeria, “Women’s Reserved Seats Bill to be voted in October”, August 2025, von.gov.ng
  25. O. Adelagun, Premium Times via AllAfrica, “Review: In 2025, Nigerian women intensified push for gender reforms”, 4 January 2026, allafrica.com
  26. Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), “The Special Seats Bill and the unfinished business of inclusion”, 10 April 2026, placng.org
  27. The Guardian (Nigeria), “Constitutional amendment bill seeks to create new 182 legislative seats for women”, undated, guardian.ng
  28. F. Chiazor, Institute of Development Studies, “Participation without power: rethinking women’s political representation in Nigeria”, 5 March 2026, ids.ac.uk
  29. iKNOW Politics, “Can the Special Seats Bill deliver the gender parity Nigeria needs?”, 19 June 2026, iknowpolitics.org
  30. RFLD, “Women in Politics: West Africa Tracker” (IPU Parline ranking of 1 August 2026, updated 3 October 2026), rflgd.org
  31. RFLD, “Women in Leadership Tracker for Africa” (v5.2, October 2026), rflgd.org
  32. RFLD, “Ghana: women’s rights laws” (citing Ministry of Gender, International IDEA and IPU), 2026, rflgd.org
  33. RFLD, “Sierra Leone: women’s rights laws” (citing UN Women Beijing+30 report 2024 and Amnesty International 2023), 2026, rflgd.org
  34. RFLD, “Cabo Verde: women’s rights laws” (citing IPU Parline), 2026, rflgd.org
  35. RFLD, “Benin: women’s rights and civic space laws” (verified October 2026), rflgd.org
  36. RFLD, “Liberia: women’s rights laws” (citing IPU Parline), 2026, rflgd.org
  37. RFLD, “Kenya: women’s rights laws”, 2026, rflgd.org
  38. RFLD, “Rwanda: women’s rights laws” (citing the 2003 Constitution, arts. 75(4) and 76, and IPU Parline), 2026, rflgd.org
  39. RFLD, “South Africa: women’s rights laws” (citing IPU Parline), 2026, rflgd.org
  40. RFLD, “Namibia: women’s rights laws” (citing IPU Parline), 2026, rflgd.org
  41. RFLD, “Côte d’Ivoire: women’s rights laws” (citing the state report to the ACHPR, 2016–2019), 2026, rflgd.org
  42. RFLD, “Nigeria: women’s rights laws” (citing Amnesty International UPR submission, July 2023) and “Senegal: women’s rights laws” (Law 2010-11 of 28 May 2010; OHCHR, February 2022), 2026, rflgd.org and rflgd.org
  43. RFLD, “Mali: women’s rights laws” (Law 2015-052; IPU Parline), 2026, rflgd.org
  44. RFLD, “Ethiopia: women’s rights laws” (Proclamation 1162/2019), 2026, rflgd.org
  45. RFLD, “The Gambia: women’s rights laws” (citing IPU Parline), 2026, rflgd.org
  46. RFLD, “Niger: women’s rights laws” (Law 2000-008 as amended by Law 2019-69), 2026, rflgd.org
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