By Own Correspondent

ECONOMIC Justice for Women’s Project (EJWP) has bemoaned the poor status of women despite the fact they form the majority of workers in the informal sector.

Presenting a research paper titled, “Post-Independence Zimbabwe Finance and Economic Policy Evolution”  the young women’s think tank said while estimates show that approximately 5,2 million people in Zimbabwe who make up the backbone of the economy are in the informal sector, about 68% of which are women.

This, the research observes, implies that women are the major players and are the backbone of Zimbabwe's economy through their contribution in the informal sector.

“But the role women play as key economic agents is largely obscured by the fact that the majority of work in the informal sector where their contribution is, is not adequately quantified or measured, largely due to unavailability of reliable and credible statistical data,” said EJWP.

The paper observes that the challenge is however not peculiar to Zimbabwe but is also prevalent in other African countries, where worrisomely the financial architecture excludes women, with the majority of them finding it difficult to access financial assistance.

Says the paper, “A research by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) found that as many as 70%  of women owned Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the formal sector in developing countries are unserved or underserved by financial institutions.

“This leads to a financing gap of around US$285 billion and that in Sub-Saharan Africa with the financing gap for women is estimated at around US$20 billion but is probably higher given the large number of women business owners in the informal sector.”

The research paper blames the state of women in Zimbabwe on the fact that upon independence, the new State inherited a highly patriarchal system that saw the exclusion and marginalization of women in the country’s economic processes.

Historically, observed the paper, due to societal and cultural beliefs, women in Zimbabwe are confined to the private sphere as opposed to being equal participants in the public spheres of life.

“This has limited the capacity of the majority of women to participate in key public discourses such as public consultations on various policy formulations and ultimately their contribution to shaping public policy.

“Such an establishment is in contrast with the aspirations and targets of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 that speaks on gender equality,” added the paper.