The Political Economy of Gender-Responsive Budgeting in Nigeria

Abstract

Women play important roles in the Nigerian economy. However, some of the gender development indicators have not shown significant improvement in women empowerment and gender equality. Thus, the aim of the study is to understand the political and economic factors influencing budget allocation to women-oriented programmes and projects and to investigate the impact of gender-responsive budgeting on women’s empowerment and gender equality in Nigeria. Using a descriptive and inferential statistical technique, the study examined the proportion of the total budget that is allocated to the core women-oriented agencies, analysed the trend of gender equality indicators, and examined gender-responsive budgeting and its integration into the annual national budgeting process. The findings of the study showed that gender gap is prevalent in almost every sector, and the design and implementation of GRB have not followed a pattern structure, due mainly to the lack of legal and institutional framework. The study also found that the implementation of GRB has only been done through annual budget allocation to the Ministry of Women Affairs and some selected women-oriented programmes. Thus, the absence of a comprehensive budgeting framework has limited progress in the adoption and implementation of GRB, thereby undermining the attainment of the gender equality targets in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).