Legal Pathways to Inclusive Enterprise: Examining Gender Protection and Empowerment in Ghana’s Affirmative Action Framework

Abstract

This paper examines Ghana’s Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024 (Act 1121), a landmark legal and policy intervention designed to address persistent gender inequalities in governance, entrepreneurship, and social protection. While affirmative action has historically been a central tool for advancing women’s rights in Ghana—evolving across three distinct generations from the 1960s to the 2020s—the passage of the Act represents the most comprehensive legislative attempt to institutionalise gender equality. Drawing on feminist legal theory, which interrogates the ways laws reproduce gendered power hierarchies, and social protection theory that emphasises redistributive justice and gender-responsive policy, the study interrogates the Act’s transformative potential and limitations. Methodologically, the research employs qualitative thematic analysis of the Act’s key provisions; Sections 3, 17, 24, and Schedule 4, and in-depth interviews with fifteen participants, including gender advocates, students, senior and junior staff of the University of Cape Coast, and a legal practitioner. Findings highlight the Act’s strengths, such as mandating public and private institutions to implement gender equality policies, incentivising compliance through tax relief and procurement preferences, embedding protections for informal sector workers, and establishing monitoring and grievance redress mechanisms. The study also identifies significant implementation challenges, as participants emphasised limited public awareness, cultural barriers restricting women’s opportunities, insufficient financial resources, and weak enforcement mechanisms. Comparative literature suggests risks of elite capture, bureaucratic delays, and urban bias, which could undermine it’s effectiveness. While the Act represents a crucial policy milestone, its success depends on sustained political will, adequate resource allocation, community-level awareness campaigns, and strong institutional enforcement.