Thomas Kaluvi, an officer at the National Commission for Science and Technology in Malawi, tells us about an internal review that revealed gender imbalances in team composition in previous research projects, discouraging women from participating. In response, the council introduced a funding quota for women and vulnerable groups to encourage their participation in research projects. In Ghana, Mavis Akuffobea-Essilfie, a senior research scientist at the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute, tells us the council is forming focal groups to monitor progress and promote consistent integration of gender considerations across its research system. To ensure the efforts across councils are sustainable, Lorenza Fluks, senior research specialist at South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council, explains that a gender equality policy framework was developed to guide future work, embedding gender inclusion into funding, collaborations, and research outcomes. This podcast was supported by the Science Granting Councils Initiative which aims to strengthen the institutional capacities of 18 public science funding agencies in Sub-Saharan Africa.