For example, in Mauritius - southern Africa's "little tiger" which has full employment and where women's entry into the labourforce has played a crucial role in economic growth - men are the source of 92 % of the economic news.
Further, there are things that can be done to mitigate those problems over the wider area: a common treasury, that full economic union, inter-regional transfers and a mobile labourforce.
As firms cut back, the proportion of full-time contract jobs has fallen from almost 80% of the labourforce in 1990 to 66% in 2007, according to the OECD.