An estimated 112 million more women started using mobile Internet for the first time last year across low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), says the 2021 GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report.

However, there are still 74 million unconnected women in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Women are also still less likely to own a mobile phone compared to men in the region.

Findings from the report are based on results from more than 9,000 face-to-face surveys across eight low and middle-income countries, and subsequent modelling and analysis of the data.

The survey shows that mobile ownership rate for women in SSA was 75 per cent in 2020, compared to 82 per cent in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

Some 234 million fewer women than men access mobile Internet, underscoring how the gender gap in mobile ownership is proving difficult to close.

The research notes that affordability, lack of literacy and digital skills, and lower awareness of mobile Internet have been common barriers for women in joining the digital economy.

There has, however, been some improvement, with the global mobile gender gap actually shrinking over the past year, to 15 per cent from 19 per cent in 2019.

The improvement was mostly because of a record number of women in South Asia now using mobile Internet services, but unfortunately the same cannot be said for Sub-Saharan Africa where things actually got worse over the past year.

Global gender gap

But women in SSA are 37 per cent less likely to use mobile Internet compared to men, slightly worse than 36 per cent in 2019, making it the region with the largest mobile gender gap globally.

Structural inequalities in society and discriminative social norms also remain a challenge. Even when women have the same levels of education, income, literacy, and employment as men, they are still less likely to own a mobile phone or use mobile Internet.

Women were more likely than men to access the Internet exclusively via mobile in almost all markets surveyed, but affordability remains a huge barrier in SSA where it has risen to be the top hurdle for men and the second most pressing challenge for women.

“In Kenya, 63 per cent of male Internet users said they only used the Internet via a mobile device compared to 79 per cent of females,” the report states. The GSMA said this reliance by women on mobile demonstrates the disproportionate benefit of increasing their access.

Additionally, 38 per cent of Kenyan men and 33 per cent of women who are aware of mobile Internet, but have not used it, cited affordability as the single biggest barrier to adoption.

“If women are to become equal citizens in a more digital, post-Covid-19 world, closing the mobile gender gap has never been more critical,” said Mats Granryd, director-general of the GSMA.

Smartphone ownership

“I urge policymakers, the private sector and the international community to take note of the important findings laid out in the Mobile Gender Gap Report because only concerted action and collaboration will enable women and their families to reap the full benefits of connectivity,” Granryd added.

For the first time since 2017, the gender gap in smartphone ownership reduced across LMICs. In 2019, women were 20 per cent less likely to own a smartphone, but this dropped to 15 per cent in 2020.

Mobile owners are using their phones for a wider range of activities, with notable increases in the use of mobile Internet for video calls, listening to music and watching videos.

However, the study notes, there is a persistent gender gap, with female mobile owners using a narrower range of mobile services than male owners.

“Encouragingly, across the countries surveyed, female smartphone owners are almost at par with male owners in terms of mobile Internet adoption and the range of mobile services they use.”

In general, countries with the lowest levels of mobile ownership have the widest gender gaps in mobile ownership and mobile Internet use.

In all countries surveyed, the report shows, the gender gap in mobile ownership is smaller than the gender gap in mobile Internet use.

Lost jobs

“Even where the gender gap in mobile ownership is relatively small, there can be a substantial gender gap in mobile Internet use. For instance, Kenya and Nigeria have gender gaps in mobile ownership of seven per cent and four per cent, respectively, and gender gaps in mobile Internet use of 42 per cent and 29 per cent,” says the report.

Encouragingly, the Covid-19 pandemic does not appear to have led to an overall decline in mobile ownership among women, at least so far.

Although women were more likely to have lost their jobs and experienced more financial strain from reverse migration in some markets, 18 mobile ownership among women remained largely unchanged in 2020.

In contrast, in Kenya, Nigeria and Mozambique, there is some evidence that women’s mobile ownership, particularly smartphone ownership, was negatively impacted over the last year compared to men’s.

Anecdotal evidence obtained while conducting the survey indicates that some men and women in certain surveyed countries sold their handsets to cope with financial stress.