Mapping the Diffusion of Gender Responsive Budgeting in Africa

Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) has been lauded for its transformative potential in mainstreaming gender considerations into fiscal policies and budgetary decisions. While this concept has gained traction on the global stage, the trajectory of its inception from Australia to its diffusion across continents, especially how it permeated into the African region, still needs to be examined. The primary objective of this study is to map the sequence of events and key milestones that have marked the evolution and spread of GRB in African countries. Unlike existing literature that focuses predominantly on GRB implementation or outcomes, this paper aims to provide a sequential narrative of how and why GRB was introduced, adapted, and propagated across the African region, in a non-linear fashion from the early 1990s onwards. Drawing on several policy diffusion models (including Rogers, 1995, 2003; Berry and Berry 2007), and secondary data, this paper provides a nuanced understanding of what underpins the diffusion of GRB across Africa. Key factors that matter include historical windows of opportunity, formal and informal networks and influences, and policy entrepreneurship at the regional and global level. The paper concludes with a discussion of the ways Africa arguably impacted further contagion of GRB.