The core of the dictionary is the formal entries on nearly 700 topics, individuals, organizations, events, and publications. The book opens with an essay on African women's history, and includes a chronology of African women's history, a list of acronyms, and a country index to facilitate finding entries on particular topics. There is also a bibliography of nearly 2,000 citations that is organized first into historical periods and then into twenty topical categories including art, education, health, human rights, literature, marriage, slavery, and urbanization.