This paper shall study the fundamental causes of child marriages in Africa; it shall examine the conceptual reviews of gender, women’s empowerment and a review of the effects the practice has on economic development. More so, it shall examine the country with the highest prevalence which it shall take as its special case. Furthermore, the study shall look at the psychological, social and economic detriments of the practice. It shall also look at the conventions held by the African Union as a deliberate attempt to fight this social ill which again has put Africa on the highest pedestal for the wrong reason despite the odds in other regions.

Keywords : Child Marriages, Gender, Women’s Empowerment.