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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

Women get more access to cellphones

Business

By Moses Omusolo | Mar 10, 2019

**A woman surfs the web on her tablet. Facebook is looking to tap its more than five million users in Kenya. [Courtesy, Standard]**

About 80 per cent of women in low and middle-income countries are now mobile owners, even as closing the mobile gender gap in these markets presents a significant commercial opportunity for the industry over the next five years.

According to a new GSMA report released late February, 250 million more women became mobile owners in low and middle-income countries since 2014.

At the same time, the Mobile Gender Gap report reveals that mobile phone is the primary means of Internet access in these markets, where 48 per cent of women use the gadget to get online.

However, despite the growth in connectivity, the gender gap in mobile ownership is not closing.

“Women remain 10 per cent less likely than men to own a mobile phone in low and middle-income countries, and 23 per cent less likely than men to use mobile Internet,” the report notes.

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Further, the study found that while the mobile gap varies by region and country, it is widest in South Asia where women are 28 per cent less likely than men to own a mobile device, and 58 per cent less likely to use mobile internet.

“While mobile connectivity is spreading quickly, it is not spreading equally. Unequal access to mobile technology threatens to exacerbate the inequalities women already experience,” said GMA Director General Mats Granryd, adding that there is urgent need for all to take urgent action to address the problem.

“Reaching the 432 million women in these countries who are still unconnected will require concerted effort and coordination from the mobile industry, as well as policy makers and the international community,” he said, adding that women highlighted affordability, literacy and digital skills, a perceived lack of relevance, and safety and security concerns as the top barriers needing to be addressed in order to further decrease the mobile gender gap.