Advocating for a Care Economy: Women Leaders and the Policy Imperative in Tanzania and Senegal (2021–2026)

This perspective examines the critical advocacy role of women leaders in Tanzania and Senegal in advancing a national policy framework for the care economy between 2021 and 2026. It argues that, despite the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work on women—a fundamental constraint on their economic participation—policy recognition remains nascent. Employing a political economy lens, the analysis scrutinises the strategies and discourses used by women parliamentarians, civil society leaders, and business association representatives. Drawing on primary policy documents, parliamentary records, and public advocacy statements, it identifies a concerted, context-specific push to reframe care work from a private responsibility to a public good requiring state investment. In Tanzania, advocacy within business forums has strategically emphasised the care economy’s link to female entrepreneurship and national productivity. In Senegal, coalitions have adeptly leveraged the state’s existing social protection ambitions to advance the agenda. The central contention is that these targeted efforts are essential for catalysing a transformative policy agenda which addresses structural gender inequality. The piece concludes that sustainable and equitable economic development in Africa necessitates this foundational shift, with women leaders being indispensable in forging the political will to recognise, reduce, and redistribute unpaid care work through comprehensive national policies.