Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic uncovered and aggravated enduring gender inequalities across
Africa, by escalating women's economic precarity, care burdens, and exposure to gender-based
violence. This study investigates post-pandemic recovery efforts which was invoked as a result
of the lived trajectories of women during the Covid – 19 pandemics which is tagged "building
back better". The study therefore examines if the strategies put in place after the pandemic are
genuinely inclusive of gender justice. This paper probes the extent to which African social
systems have integrated gender-responsive mechanisms in their pandemic recovery
frameworks. Utilizing African feminist theory, the study uses a comparative case approach to
analyze data in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya through two key indicators which are
women’s representation in parliament and female labor force participation. Findings affirm that
“building back better” in Africa has often failed to cater for transformative gender justice,
particularly in political agency, economic opportunity, and structural reform. The study
contends for building back better strategies that will address women's agency, intersectional
vulnerabilities, and structural gender injustice.