The gender gap in education has received global attention in recent decades with the United Nations’ Decade of Women, Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals. Despite these efforts, gender parity in education has yet to be reached in parts of the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, 75 percent of girls start school. Only 8 percent complete secondary school. Failure to educate girls deprives families, communities and economies of opportunities to flourish. Using secondary data analysis, this study aims to identify the key factors that enable and inhibit girls’ achievement in secondary school in sub-Saharan Africa. It concludes by stressing the need for more female participation in schools and in positions of decision-making in order to adequately advocate and strategically act to combat this problem.