Female Participation in Sport as an Indicator of Business Success

According to the United Nations Population Fund (2011), a higher number of women in the workforce correlate with higher gross domestic product (GDP) growth.  In the next five years, the global incomes of women are expected to grow from US $13 trillion to US $18 trillion.  That increase of US $5 trillion is almost twice the growth in GDP expected from China and India combined (EY, 2013b).  Today, women have little access to seats in business boardrooms, even in developed markets.  In many rapid-growth markets, women experience severe legal, cultural, and social restrictions against joining the labor force, along with the reality of having few or no rights to own property and limited access to education (EY, 2013b). Sport can be a powerful vehicle for change.  The full participation of women in team activities such as sports nurtures the advanced leadership skills that the complex world economy so urgently needs (EY, 2013b).  The United Nations Population Fund Report on Women, Gender Equality, and Sport determined that “the participation of women and girls in sport challenges gender stereotypes and discrimination, and can therefore be a vehicle to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls” (2007, p. 3). Through the analysis of literature, this paper will explore how the impact of sports participation by women can have on development, entrepreneurship, and social change in Nigeria and Zambia, two countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), considered by The Prosperity Index in Africa (2011), the second fastest growing region of the world after Asia.