Think about two colleagues on the similar firm. One believes their office is honest and equitable. The opposite, sitting on the desk subsequent to them, experiences one thing very totally different each day.
That hole, the house between what we consider and what individuals really reside, is on the coronary heart of what GeoPoll got down to measure early March 2026.
Our Africa Gender Survey 2026 is now accessible. It surveyed 2,420 respondents throughout Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt, and what got here again was an image that’s directly hopeful and sobering.
The Notion Hole Is Actual, and It Lives within the Office
Ask individuals at a societal stage whether or not women and men have equal alternatives, and 65% will say sure. Ask those self same individuals particularly about their very own office, and that determine drops to 52%.
13 share factors. That’s the distance between what we consider within the summary and what individuals expertise on the bottom, and it’s arguably a very powerful discovering on this report.
It will get sharper if you break it down by gender. Amongst employed respondents, 57% of males say their office treats everybody equally. Solely 46% of girls say the identical. Essentially the most generally noticed expression of this inequality? Almost half of respondents famous that girls are concentrated in junior roles whereas males dominate senior management.
These are usually not perceptions of a faraway downside. They’re descriptions of the place individuals spend most of their waking hours.
Almost Half of Respondents Have Skilled Sexual Harassment
47% of respondents throughout the 4 markets reported having personally skilled some type of sexual harassment.
That quantity by itself ought to give us pause. However the gender breakdown is the place it turns into not possible to look away: almost 6 in 10 girls, 59%, reported private expertise of sexual harassment, in comparison with 35% of males. And probably the most steadily cited location was not a darkish alley or a public house. It was the office, at 51%.
The survey additionally discovered that harassment in instructional settings was reported by 32% of respondents, a determine that carries critical long-term penalties for ladies’ participation and outcomes in studying.
What makes this tougher to handle shouldn’t be consciousness. It’s motion. Analysis on African media organisations, cited within the report, discovered that whereas one in two girls skilled office sexual harassment, solely 30% of circumstances had been ever formally reported. Concern of retaliation and a insecurity that organisations would reply meaningfully had been the first causes.
81% of Folks Consider Girls Ought to Inherit Equally. So Why Doesn’t It Occur?
The reply, based on 62% of respondents, is cultural and conventional beliefs.
This is among the most placing tensions in your complete report. There may be near-universal normative settlement that girls ought to have equal property inheritance rights, 81% affirming it throughout the total pattern. But the first barrier shouldn’t be legislation. It’s not coverage. It’s deeply ingrained cultural follow that continues to override formal rights in communities throughout Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt.
Spiritual interpretations had been cited by 10% of respondents, whereas 12% pointed to the notion that girls are usually not everlasting members of the family, a view that leaves widows significantly weak. The hole between what individuals say they consider and what they’re keen to implement in their very own households and communities is among the hardest issues in gender equality work, and this survey makes it seen.
75% Would Vote for a Feminine President. However None of These 4 Nations Has Had One.
That distinction says a fantastic deal.
Throughout all 4 markets, 75% of respondents mentioned they had been probably or very prone to vote for a feminine presidential candidate. Solely 15% mentioned they had been unlikely to take action. Public attitudes, it appears, have moved forward of political constructions.
Not one of the 4 nations surveyed, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, or Egypt, has had a feminine president or head of presidency. But voters say they’re prepared. That factors clearly to structural and institutional limitations as the actual impediment, not public resistance.
The information additionally exhibits that help for enhancing entry to justice is the highest precedence motion respondents need from governments, chosen by 79% of the pattern. Increasing training and coaching got here second at 66%, and rising girls’s management third at 58%.
Obtain the Full Report
The findings above are a place to begin. The complete GeoPoll Africa Gender Survey 2026 covers:
- Nation-level breakdowns for Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt
- Gender-disaggregated information throughout each key matter
- Consciousness, publicity, and witness charges throughout 9 varieties of gender-based violence
- Family monetary decision-making and financial empowerment
- AI utilization patterns and attitudes by gender
- Conclusions and actionable suggestions for governments, organisations, and advocates
The information exists to tell choices. We hope it does.
Contact Us
For extra details about this challenge, get clarifications on any part within the information, or to study extra about our capabilities, please be happy to contact GeoPoll.
