Tackling legal and policy barriers at the local level

In-Depth Country Studies

The World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law produces in-depth studies capturing differences on how laws, regulations, and policies affect women’s economic opportunities and private sector development within a single economy. By collecting data from various regions, these studies provide subnational data that inform legal and policy reform across all levels of government.

Going beyond the main business city to uncover regional disparities

Laws and policies that shape women’s access to jobs and markets can vary significantly within a single economy, particularly in federal and mixed legal systems. Women, Business and the Law subnational data address this complexity by providing a comprehensive view of the legal and supportive policy frameworks restricting women’s economic opportunities at the local level. These data fill a critical knowledge gap around the obstacles that women face beyond the main business centers and informing more inclusive policy solutions.  

Women, Business and the Law in-depth studies offer tailored diagnostic tools for policymakers at all levels—federal, state/provincial, and municipal. They highlight good practices and pinpoint reform opportunities to remove legal and policy barriers that limit women’s economic participation. By applying the WBL 2.0 methodology, subnational data are not only comparable across regions within a single economy but can also be benchmarked against the 190 economies included in the WBL global index.

Women Business and the Law deep dive in Nigeria & Bosnia and Herzegovina

Overview

Women, Business and the Law in-depth study in Nigeria – the first of its kind – assesses how laws, regulations, and policies shape women’s access to jobs and markets across the economy. The study covers the Federal Capital Territory and seven states – Anambra, Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Oyo, Rivers – representing all six geopolitical zones. It examines Nigeria’s complex legal and policy landscape, capturing barriers under federal and state legislation, Islamic personal law, and customary law.

Using a set of assumptions—such as the religion and ethnicity of the majority population in each state—the subnational data reflects the predominant legal regimes within those states.

The in-depth study in Nigeria evaluates the legal frameworks and supportive policy measures across the 10 WBL topics: Safety, Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Childcare, Entrepreneurship, Assets, Pension. For each area, the study highlights good practices and opportunities for improvement across diverse legal regimes. It also investigates expert opinions on how laws are implemented in practice.

Where do laws and policies best enable women to access jobs and markets?

Key Findings

1

Significant legal gaps continue to constrain women’s economic participation across Nigerian states.

Legal gender equality varies widely, with Lagos and Oyo leading the way. Data from Bauchi and Kano suggest areas where legal frameworks could be strengthened particularly in areas of family and inheritance law.

2

Good practices are evident across most states.

Lagos addresses all four forms of domestic violence, including physical, psychological, sexual, and economic; Bauchi and Kaduna impose criminal penalties for sexual harassment in employment and education; Anambra has taken steps to protect women’s labor rights by prohibiting the dismissal of pregnant women.

3

Reform opportunities exist across all WBL topics.

At the federal level, labor law restricts women from working in industrial jobs, lacks protections against gender-based discrimination, and does not guarantee adequate paid maternity leave. At the state level, gaps persist: Anambra, Kaduna and Kano do not legally guarantee equal inheritance rights for women; Bauchi and Kano do not set the legal marriage age at 18 or higher; and across all states, there are no explicit provisions ensuring access to affordable and quality childcare, gender-responsive public procurement, or protections against femicide.

4

Significant gaps remain in supportive frameworks

Particularly in the areas of Pay, Parenthood, Childcare, and Marriage. Nearly all states score 0 in these domains, reflecting limited policies and institutional mechanisms to implement gender-equal laws.

5

At the same time, promising practices are emerging across many states.

Lagos offers legal aid for family law dispute, operates a specialized family court, and provides comprehensive services for survivors of gender-based violence; the Federal Capital Territory and Bauchi run programs supporting women entrepreneurs; Rivers enables joint property titling between spouses; Kaduna publishes sex-disaggregated data on unpaid care work and reduces property registration fees for women.

6

Expert opinions on women’s rights vary significantly across states.

While experts are more optimistic about the outcome of the law for women in Kano, despite legal frameworks scoring the lowest, they tend to be more pessimistic in Oyo, where the legal frameworks score the highest.

Data snapshots:

More Information:

Presentation

Contributors

See who contributed to the Women, Business and the Law in-depth study in Nigeria 

Last Updated: Nov 20, 2025

Overview

Women, Business and the Law in-depth study in Bosnia and Herzegovina assesses how laws, regulations, and policies affect women’s access to jobs and markets in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. The study provides subnational data focused on the largest city of each entity: Sarajevo in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Banja Luka in Republika Srpska.

The study evaluates the legal frameworks and supportive policy measures across the 10 WBL topics: Safety, Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Childcare, Entrepreneurship, Assets, Pension. For each area, the study highlights good practices and opportunities for improvement.

Where do laws and policies best enable women to access jobs and markets?

Key Findings

1

Overall, Republika Srpska (Banja Luka) exhibits fewer legal barriers to women’s economic participation, scoring 2.5 points higher than the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo) on the WBL 2.0 legal frameworks index. It also shows stronger institutional and policy support for gender-equal laws, scoring 6.6 points higher on the WBL 2.0 supportive frameworks index.

2

Both entities perform the strongest in legal frameworks pertaining to Mobility, Parenthood, Marriage and Assets topics. However, lower scores on Pay, Workplace and Entrepreneurship topics point to key reform opportunities.

3

In Republika Srpska (Banja Luka), laws do not prohibit discrimination in recruitment, unlike in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo). At the same time, the laws in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo) impose restrictions on women’s access to industrial jobs. Both legal frameworks include limitations on women’s night work and lack provisions promoting female representation on corporate boards or in public procurement processes.

4

Significant gaps remain in the supportive frameworks across both entities, particularly in the areas of Parenthood and Assets. Neither entities collect sex-disaggregated data on unpaid care work or property ownership, and both lack measures such as pay transparency and transportation policies that address women’s needs.

5

Good practices are evident in both entities. Republika Srpska (Banja Luka) demonstrates strengths in Safety, Entrepreneurship and Pension, while the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo) stands out in Marriage. Notable examples include Republika Srpska (Banja Luka)’s incentives to increase women’s retirement benefits, the presence of monitoring entities for programs addressing violence against women, and a strategy to improve women’s access to financial services. In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo), good practices include a fast-track procedure for resolving family law disputes and the presence of a specialized family court.

Data snapshots:

More Information:

Presentation

Contributors

See who contributed to the Women, Business and the Law in-depth study in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Last Updated: Nov 20, 2025

Publications

Explore related WBL publications, the flagship report, and research to deepen your understanding of how laws shape women’s economic empowerment across countries. Learn how laws and women’s economic opportunities interact across key areas, from care and jobs to violence and inclusion.

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