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The impact of mobile broadband coverage on poverty in Tanzania

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The impact of mobile broadband coverage on poverty in Tanzania  Does being able to access mobile internet reduce poverty in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)? To answer this question, the GSMA partnered with the World Bank on an innovative study in Tanzania. We ...

Impact story: The GSMA’s ‘Bridging the Mobile Gender Gap’ Capacity Building course

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The GSMA’s Bridging the Mobile Gender Gap (BMGG) course helps policymakers and regulators understand the size and drivers of the mobile gender gap in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and provides insights and recommendations on how to improve digital inclusion ...

Working towards digital and financial inclusion of women in Asia and the Pacific

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Digital technologies are a gamechanger, able to reach the “last mile” and empowering women with unprecedented access to information, services, and opportunities. In 2023, digital technologies were the focus of the Commission of the Status of Women and International Women’s ...

Unpacking women’s use of mobile money

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With the launch of this year’s SOTIR comes new insights regarding gender and mobile money alongside better understanding on how to reduce the gender gap in women’s usage. However, while there have been substantial gains in mobile-led financial inclusion over the last few ...

The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023

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Women’s rate of mobile internet adoption has slowed for the second year in a row In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), mobile phones are the primary and often only way people get online, especially women. More than 3.4 billion people in LMICs now access the internet ...

Four ways to drive adoption and usage of mobile-enabled services among underserved women: Lessons from the GSMA Innovation Fund

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3.2 billion of the unconnected population worldwide live within the footprint of a mobile broadband network but are not using mobile internet – the vast majority of them live in low- and-middle-income countries (LMICs). This usage gap is more pronounced among women, who are ...

Pick up the phone! Accelerating digital adoption through women’s Self-Help Groups in India

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In 2021, BBC Media Action conducted a landscaping study of digital literacy interventions in India to identify which approaches showed the most promise, which hadn’t worked and why, and gaps in evidence. Among the findings, the study identified that most digital ...

The GSMA leads digital gender inclusion discussions at 67th Session of United Nations Commission on the Status of Women

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In March, the GSMA joined the 67th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). CSW is the UN’s largest annual gathering where gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls are discussed by governments, the private sector, civil society ...

Our new data shows further slowdown in digital inclusion for women

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#EmbraceEquity: The mobile gender gap Last year on International Women’s Day we shared that, for the first time, progress in reducing the gender gap in mobile internet across low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) had stalled and, in some countries, even reversed. This was ...

Rural women have so much to gain from mobile, but are being left behind

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This blog is a deep dive into mobile access and use among rural women. It draws on data from the GSMA’s Consumer Survey 2021, a nationally representative survey conducted in ten low- and middle-income countries. Note that ‘rural’ is defined in accordance with census data and ...

The mobile gender gap in South Asia is now widening

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Mobile internet can be a life-enhancing tool that makes people feel more autonomous, safe and connected, especially women. Yet, women in South Asia are substantially less likely than men to access mobile internet. Across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), South Asia ...

Empowering female micro-entrepreneurs through mobile: GSMA Connected Women’s new project

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There are over four hundred million micro businesses in emerging markets, forming the backbone of societies and economies. An incredible opportunity exists to increase women’s participation. Currently, only 38% of global MSMEs are female-owned, and they are more likely to be ...

Findings from Findex: Mobile money is driving financial inclusion for women, but more work needs to be done

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This blog explores the changing mobile money gender gap across low- and middle-income countries, based on GSMA’s analysis of the latest 2021 Findex data and previous 2017 data Mobile money continues to be a driving force, transforming the financial inclusion landscape ...

Improving digital skills among rural women: An interview with Telenor Pakistan

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In today’s world, we know that mobile internet can bring invaluable benefits to millions of people worldwide. However, women do not equally partake in this opportunity. Pakistan has one of the largest mobile gender gaps in the world – women are 38% less likely ...

The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2022

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Progress in closing the gender gap in mobile internet use has stalled More than 3.2 billion people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) now access the internet on a mobile phone. Mobile is the primary way men and women access the internet in LMICs, accounting for 85% ...

Mobile internet use, well-being and gender: Understanding the links

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More than half the world’s population is now using mobile internet, and studies have linked mobile broadband coverage with improved household income. Yet there is almost no research on how mobile internet use impacts the well-being of individual men and women in low- and ...

Exploring women’s and entrepreneurs’ use of mobile money in Ghana

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This blog shares some key findings from the GSMA’s report “Exploring women’s use of mobile money in Ghana: The user journey, entrepreneurs and the impact of COVID-19”. It draws on recent GSMA qualitative and nationally representative quantitative field research in Ghana in ...

Tracking the mobile money industry 10 years on: Addressing the mobile money gender gap

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This blog shares some key findings from the “Addressing the mobile money gender gap” Chapter on page 60 of the GSMA’s State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2022.  It draws on recent GSMA nationally representative field research in a number of low- and ...

Improving Women’s Digital Safety with Mobile Tokenisation

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In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), like Ghana, the wide-ranging benefits of mobile technology are evident in the everyday life of underserved communities. Mobile enables access to voice and communication services, and provides a preferred, and often first, entry to ...

Our latest data highlights the urgency to address the mobile gender gap two years into the COVID-19 pandemic

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Over the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of access to mobile and mobile internet. Women in particular have been disproportionately negatively impacted by the pandemic and mobile has provided them with a means to mitigate many of the ...