Out of all 34 evaluated countries in Africa, only a few have achieved impressive performances compared to others. Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda lead in the African region with GDO Index scores of 0.756, 0.746, and 0.733, respectively.
Nigeria ranks 0.499 in the Gender Data Index, indicating a low performance in gender capacity. Nigeria is not alone on the African continent; no African country has fully realised its potential in gender data over the years.
This story has not changed over time, as previous assessments have shown a void of over 53.3% of gender-related data in Nigeria. This is a shortfall that continues to stall progress toward gender equality.
The Gender Data Outlook launched in 2024 (GDO) is designed to measure how well countries are equipped to collect and effectively use gender data to inform decision-making and advance equality.
However, gender data ecosystems are critical to strengthening societies and national development. The UN considers them critical, hence encourages a consistent national budget for funding gender statistics.
However, the GDO says Nigeria’s low performance on the index is attributed to a lack of funding received from both domestic and international bodies to support its gender data ecosystem. Also, it may be one of the reasons why Nigeria continues to struggle with achieving gender equality.
Reports say that between 2024 and 2025, Nigeria’s performance in closing its gender data gap improved by just 2.5%.
And this is slow progress, which renders Nigeria to be lagging in both global and African regional average scores.
There is an urgent need for Nigeria to accelerate efforts towards closing its gender data gap.
The outlook of the performance of African countries in the Gender Data Index suggests that Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda exhibit a gender data capacity deficit ranging from 24% to 34%. However, Nigeria’s 0.499 is far below any of these scores.
Nigeria showed a strong performance in the Enabling Environment for gender data, which supports data production, dissemination, and use. The country scored 0.533 in Production, indicating relatively strong performance, and 0.310 in accessibility, indicating a significant room for improvement in making data widely available.
Examining Nigeria’s gender data gaps across economic, social, and political indicators reveals that some critical issues have no single data available. These include the share of the employed population aged 15 and above living below the international poverty line (economic indicator) and the prevalence of severe food insecurity among adults (social indicator). Similarly, data on out-of-school children in primary and lower secondary education are also missing.
Nigeria needs to, as a matter of urgency, improve its performance in the Gender Data Index for several key reasons.
A functional data index is imperative in closing the Gender Data Gap. Nigeria’s progress in closing its gender data gap has been slow, with only a 2.5% improvement between 2024 and 2025. This lag behind global and regional averages highlights the need for accelerated efforts.
Limited Funding causes the country’s low performance in the index, as a lack of funding from domestic and international bodies to support its gender data ecosystem is a huge barrier.
Inadequate Data Accessibility: Nigeria scored 0.310 in accessibility, indicating significant weaknesses in making data widely available. This limits the effectiveness of gender data in informing decision-making and advancing equality.
Missing Data: A staggering 53.3% of gender-related data in Nigeria remains missing, hindering progress toward gender equality.
Impact on Policy and Decision-Making: Without reliable and accessible data, policymakers and stakeholders cannot effectively design and implement policies to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Therefore, to address these challenges, Nigeria should consider the following strategies:
Increase Funding: Allocate dedicated budget lines for gender statistics and secure consistent national budget funding.
Improve Data Accessibility: Strengthen institutions like the National Bureau of Statistics to collect and disseminate high-quality, up-to-date gender-disaggregated data.
Pass the Gender Equality Bill: Enact legislation that promotes gender equality and provides a framework for data-driven decision-making.
Implement Gender-Responsive Budgeting: Integrate gender considerations into budget planning to ensure adequate resource allocation.
Enhance Monitoring and Evaluation: Establish clear monitoring indicators and publicly track progress to maintain momentum and adjust policies as needed.
Nigeria must make the effort to fund gender data processes to move closer to achieving SDG5 and other related gender milestones for the good of the country and the world at large.
Hawwah A Gambo writes from Abuja Nigeria.
