The Pandemic Has Encouraged Less Digital Connectivity Amongst African Women

Analytics about the women based in Sub-Saharan Africa, SSA, reveals a little fraction above 13% has contributed to the global economy. Whereby the other fraction roughly amounts to 74 million Africans who are not connected to a digital server.

The gap continues to expand wider than expected, conforming to the  GSMA’s 2021 Mobile Gender Gap Report. This analysis focused its research on “Low and Middle-Income Countries, LMIC,” and the “Middle East and North Africa, MENA.” Both regions have reportedly gained a responsive score — 75% of women in these regions own a cellphone.

During the pandemic, the LMIC report revealed that women in this region embraced digital connectivity which then shrunk as the pandemic continued — over 15% of women are currently connected, compared to the previous 19% at the time of the Coronavirus outbreak.

In line with GSMA’s analysis, Asian women remain the most connected to the internet, an impressive record compared to Africa in general. It worth noting that before the pandemic, the record was gradually improving, but its current position depicts a regressing state — especially women based in the SSA region.

GSMA revealed women in Africa are likely to maintain Internet connectivity compared to men that have scored over 63% overtime. While over 79% of women in Africa have a mobile device with an Internet connection.

“The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women who have not only taken on more household responsibilities and educating their children from home but also suffered the loss of jobs and income.” this report revealed that illiteracy, education, employment & income, and other factors did not restrict women from indulging with the Internet.

Men have shown less responsiveness in line with this report — a lesser number of men have reportedly owned a mobile phone and used internet connection 0as well. “Despite this, the pandemic does not appear to have had a negative overall impact on women’s mobile ownership and use compared to men,” according to GSMA’s report.

GSMA’s report also proves that not all mobile phone users are aware of the capability of their possession. A perfect instance is Nigeria, where 93% of women have a mobile phone and only 13% find it complex to use. The GSMA’s conducted in-person research.