MAURITIUS 1ST IN AFRICA IN WORLD BANK'S WOMEN, BUSINESS & LAW INDEX

Mauritius has emerged 1^st out of 53 countries in Africa in the 2022 World Bank Women, Business & Law Index. The island was ranked 41^st worldwide.

Women, Business and the Law 2022 is the eight in a series of annual reports that analyze laws and regulations affecting women's economic opportunity in 190 economies.

Eight indicators-structured around women's interactions with the law as they begin, progress through, and end their careers-align with the economic decisions women make at various stages of their lives.

The indicators are Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension.

The World Bank said Mauritius scored 89.4 out of 100. The overall score for Mauritius was higher than the regional average observed across Sub-Saharan Africa (71.5).

Mauritius got a perfect score on freedom of movement, laws on women's decisions to work, laws on women's pay, on women entrepreneurship, and gender equity in property and inheritance.

Areas for Improvement

However, when it comes to constraints related to marriage, laws affecting women's work after having children, and laws affecting the size of a woman's pension, the World Bank report said Mauritius could consider reforms to improve legal equality for women.

One of the lowest scores for Mauritius (60%) was on the indicator measuring laws affecting women's work after having children (the WBL2022 Parenthood indicator).

"To improve on the Parenthood indicator, Mauritius may wish to consider making the government administer 100% of maternity leave benefits, and making paid parental leave available," the report said.