Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion

Accelerating Digital and
Financial Inclusion for Women

<p>Accelerating Digital and<br />
Financial Inclusion for Women</p>

Mobile has the power to transform lives. But while access is spreading quickly, it is not spreading equally. There remains a significant gender gap in mobile phone ownership and mobile internet use. It is critical that we work together to address this issue to advance women’s digital and financial inclusion and unlock significant commercial and socio-economic opportunities. When women thrive, societies, businesses and economies thrive.


Opportunity

We have an opportunity to contribute to the achievement of gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls through mobile. This supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG #5 (Gender Equality).

Mobile can make women more connected, safer and able to access services such as health and financial services. A GSMA study showed that in each of the 10 low- and middle-income countries surveyed in 2021:

  • 74% – 92% of female mobile owners agreed that having a mobile phone helps them in their day-to-day activities
  • 66% – 92% of female mobile owners agreed that having a mobile phone makes them feel safer
  • 46% – 86% of female mobile owners agreed that having a mobile phone provides access to useful information that is otherwise hard to get

And in each of the 12 survey countries in 2022, 53% – 91% of male and female mobile internet users report a positive overall impact on their lives, with little difference by gender.

But there is a significant gender gap in mobile phone ownership and use, particularly for more transformational services like mobile internet and mobile money. Women in low- and middle-income countries are, on average, 7% less likely to own a mobile phone than men, 19% less likely to use mobile internet and 28% less likely to use mobile money. The gender gap is wider in certain parts of the world – eg. women in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are 41% and 36%, respectively, less likely than men to use mobile internet.

Closing the gender gap also represents a significant market opportunity for the mobile industry and can spur economic growth. We estimate that closing the gender gap in low- and middle-income countries between 2023 and 2030 represents a $230bn revenue opportunity for the mobile industry.

Recommendations

The barriers preventing women from accessing mobile technology are complex and cannot be addressed by mobile operators alone. Bridging the mobile gender gap requires action and collaboration between the international community, policymakers and regulators, and the mobile industry.

Click on the tiles below to read the GSMA’s top recommendations for each key stakeholder to close the mobile gender gap. For more in-depth insights, download ‘Reaching 50 Million Women with Mobile: A Practical Guide‘.

The Mobile Industry

The Mobile Industry

  • Understand your gender gap and the women in your market by conducting consumer insights research and collecting and analysing gender disaggregated data. (Learn more in this blog.)
  • Make women part of your business strategy including setting KPIs to target women.
  • Ensure your products, services, marketing and distribution consider women’s needs and the barriers they face to mobile access and use.

The Development Community

The Development Community

  • Embed activities that drive women’s mobile access and use in your initiatives.
  • Invest in research to better understand women’s mobile access and use and how to reduce the gender gap.
  • Raise awareness of the barriers to women’s mobile access and use.

Policymakers and Regulators

Policymakers and Regulators

  • Ensure appropriate policy and regulation to lower access barriers for women.
  • Promote gender equality in education and invest in programmes that improve digital literacy for women and girls.
  • Improve women’s safety on mobile through effective policies and strategies including legal frameworks and awareness campaigns.

Resources

Click on the tabs below to access all our Connected Women interviews and related documents setting out key recommendations for action:

Testimonials from Connected Women Key Partners

Hear from leading advocates on why digital and financial inclusion of women is so important and why closing the mobile gender gap is something we must address.

Aamir Ibrahim, CEO, Jazz

Aamir Ibrahim, CEO, Jazz

Aamir Ibrahim, CEO, Jazz

On Wednesday 31 May, the GSMA Connected Women team launched the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023. At the virtual launch event, Claire Sibthorpe, GSMA spoke with Aamir Ibrahim, Jazz, about his reactions to the latest findings and what action Jazz are taking to drive digital inclusion for women.
Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom

Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom

Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom

On Wednesday 31 May, the GSMA Connected Women team launched the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023. At the virtual launch event, Claire Sibthorpe, GSMA spoke with Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom, about his reactions to the latest findings and what action Safaricom are taking to drive digital inclusion for women.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General, ITU

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General, ITU

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General, ITU

On Wednesday 31 May, the GSMA Connected Women team launched the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023. At the virtual launch event, Claire Sibthorpe, GSMA spoke with Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU about her reactions to the latest mobile gender gap findings; the key barriers that are preventing equal mobile ownership and mobile internet use; and the work that ITU are doing to address the mobile gender gap.
Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director, UN Women

Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director, UN Women

Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director, UN Women

On Wednesday 15 June, the GSMA Connected Women team launched the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2022. At the virtual launch event, Mats Granryd, GSMA spoke with Executive Director Sima Sami Bahous, UN Women about the importance of enabling women to access mobiles and mobile internet, as the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside numerous other humanitarian crises; her reaction to the latest statistics and findings; and what we should be doing as a community to accelerate the closing of the mobile gender gap.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU

On Wednesday 15 June, the GSMA Connected Women team launched the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2022. At the virtual launch event, Claire Sibthorpe, GSMA spoke with Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU about her reactions to the latest mobile gender gap statistics; the critical importance of collecting this data; the key barriers that are preventing equal mobile ownership and mobile internet use; and the work that ITU are doing to address the mobile gender gap.
Vishakha Saigal, Vice President & Head-Strategic Initiatives, Regulatory Policy & Research, Reliance Jio

Vishakha Saigal, Vice President & Head-Strategic Initiatives, Regulatory Policy & Research, Reliance Jio

Vishakha Saigal, Vice President & Head-Strategic Initiatives, Regulatory Policy & Research, Reliance Jio

On Wednesday 15 June, the GSMA Connected Women team launched the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2022. At the virtual launch event, Claire Sibthorpe, GSMA spoke with Vishakha Saigal, Reliance Jio about her reactions to the latest statistics; the mobile internet gender gap having remained flat in most regions, but widened in South Asia in the past year; and what action Reliance Jio are taking to drive digital inclusion for women.
Vishakha Saigal, Vice President & Head-Strategic Initiatives, Regulatory Policy & Research, Reliance Jio

Vishakha Saigal, Vice President & Head-Strategic Initiatives, Regulatory Policy & Research, Reliance Jio

Vishakha Saigal, Vice President & Head-Strategic Initiatives, Regulatory Policy & Research, Reliance Jio

On Thursday 17 June, the GSMA Connected Women team launched the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2021. At the virtual launch event, Claire Sibthorpe of the GSMA spoke with Vishakha Saigal from Jio (a Connected Women Commitment Partner) about her reactions to the latest statistics; the recent progress in narrowing the mobile gender gap in India; and what action Jio are taking to drive digital inclusion for women.
Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom

Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom

Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom

On Thursday 17 June, the GSMA Connected Women team launched the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2021. At the virtual launch event, Claire Sibthorpe of the GSMA spoke with Peter Ndegwa from Safaricom (a Connected Women Commitment Partner) about his reactions to the latest mobile gender gap statistics, and about what action Safaricom are taking to drive digital inclusion for women in Kenya.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women

On Thursday 17 June, the GSMA Connected Women team launched the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2021. At the virtual launch event, Mats Granryd of the GSMA spoke with Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka from UN Women about the importance of enabling women to access mobiles and mobile internet, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic; her reaction to the latest statistics and findings; and what we should be doing as a community to accelerate the closing of the mobile gender gap.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU

On Thursday 17 June, the GSMA Connected Women team launched the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2021. At the virtual launch event, Claire Sibthorpe of the GSMA spoke with Doreen Bogdan-Martin from ITU about her reactions to the latest mobile gender gap statistics; the importance of collecting this data; the key barriers that are preventing equal mobile ownership and mobile internet use; and the work that ITU are doing to address the mobile gender gap.
Erwan Gelebart, CEO, JazzCash

Erwan Gelebart, CEO, JazzCash

Erwan Gelebart, CEO, JazzCash

JazzCash initiatives to drive financial inclusion for women: In this interview we hear from Erwan Gelebart, CEO of JazzCash, who tells us why reaching out to women customers is so important. He also discusses how the Connected Women Commitment Initiative is helping JazzCash to drive financial inclusion for women and shares examples of JazzCash initiatives to increase usage of mobile money amongst women. And finally, he explains why now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, access to mobile money is more important than ever. JazzCash is a GSMA Connected Women Commitment Partner. Find out more about them here.
Jacqueline Ikwabe, Business Development Manager, Financial Services, Vodacom Tanzania

Jacqueline Ikwabe, Business Development Manager, Financial Services, Vodacom Tanzania

Jacqueline Ikwabe, Business Development Manager, Financial Services, Vodacom Tanzania

M-Koba: Innovating to Digitise Group Savings in Tanzania:  The GSMA Connected Women team met with Jacqueline Ikwabe, Business Development Manager, Financial Services of Vodacom Tanzania, who shares why financial inclusion for women is so important. In this interview, Jacqueline addresses the main barriers to closing the gender gap in mobile financial services and shares what Vodacom is doing to address these challenges. She talks about the positive impact of M-Koba, a product accessible via M-Pesa, which enables savings groups to save their collections with a deposit-taking financial institution in a safe and transparent manner. Vodacom Tanzania is a GSMA Connected Women Commitment Partner. Find out more about the Commitment Initiative here.
Harriet Lwakatare, Customer Services Director, Vodacom Tanzania

Harriet Lwakatare, Customer Services Director, Vodacom Tanzania

Harriet Lwakatare, Customer Services Director, Vodacom Tanzania

The GSMA Connected Women team met with Harriet Lwakatare, Customer Services Director of Vodacom Tanzania, who spoke about the importance of financial inclusion for women. In this short interview, Harriet also addresses the primary challenge for closing the gender gap in mobile financial services and shares what Vodacom is doing to address these barriers. Vodacom Tanzania is a GSMA Connected Women Commitment Partner. Find out more about the Commitment Initiative here.
Godwin Mashiri, General Manager, Econet EcoSure

Godwin Mashiri, General Manager, Econet EcoSure

Godwin Mashiri, General Manager, Econet EcoSure

In 2017, Econet signed the GSMA Connected Women Commitment to increase the proportion of women customers in their mobile money customer base by 2020. In this interview, Godwin Mashiri, General Manager of Econet EcoSure, shares the importance of financial inclusion for women in Zimbabwe and the influential role they play. You can also read his full interview here.
Irfan Khan, CEO, Telenor Pakistan

Irfan Khan, CEO, Telenor Pakistan

Irfan Khan, CEO, Telenor Pakistan

Irfan Khan, CEO of Telenor Pakistan, spoke to the GSMA’s Connected Women team at MWC Barcelona 2019 about why digital and financial inclusion for women is an important issue for him and his organisation. He discusses what he views to be the primary challenges to closing the mobile gender gap and highlights how Telenor is addressing these challenge in Pakistan.
Selorm Adadevoh, CEO, MTN Ghana

Selorm Adadevoh, CEO, MTN Ghana

Selorm Adadevoh, CEO, MTN Ghana

Selorm Adadevoh, CEO of MTN Ghana, spoke to the GSMA’s Connected Women team at MWC Barcelona 2019 about why financial inclusion for women is an important issue for him and his organisation. He discusses what he views to be the primary challenge to closing the gender gap in Mobile Money and financial inclusion and highlights how MTN’s MoMo Pay is addressing this challenge in Ghana.
Brad Jones, CEO, Wave Money

Brad Jones, CEO, Wave Money

Brad Jones, CEO, Wave Money

Brad Jones, CEO of Wave Money, spoke to the GSMA’s Connected Women team about why financial inclusion for women is an important issue for him and his organisation. He discusses what he views to be the primary challenge to closing the gender gap in mobile money and financial inclusion and highlights how Wave Money is addressing this challenge in Myanmar.
Bilal Kazmi, CMO, Telenor Pakistan

Bilal Kazmi, CMO, Telenor Pakistan

Bilal Kazmi, CMO, Telenor Pakistan

Bilal Kazmi, Chief Marketing Officer of Telenor Pakistan, explains why driving digital inclusion for women is so important, the challenges we face in closing the mobile gender gap, and the steps that must be taken to address this issue.
Harmeen Mehta, Global CIO, Bharti Airtel

Harmeen Mehta, Global CIO, Bharti Airtel

Harmeen Mehta, Global CIO, Bharti Airtel

Harmeen Mehta, Global CIO and Head of Digital for Bharti Airtel explains why connecting the world is so important and why she values being part of the GSMA’s Connected Women initiative.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women explains the importance of connecting women.
Benoit Janin, CEO, Zanzibar Telecom

Benoit Janin, CEO, Zanzibar Telecom

Benoit Janin, CEO, Zanzibar Telecom

Benoit Janin, CEO of Zanzibar Telecom, talks to Connected Women about why digital and financial inclusion of women is such an important issue and explains how Zanzibar Telecom is working to reduce the digital gender gap.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Chief of Strategic Planning and Membership, ITU

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Chief of Strategic Planning and Membership, ITU

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Chief of Strategic Planning and Membership, ITU

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Chief of Strategic Planning and Membership of the ITU, shares her view of the mobile gender gap in low- and middle-income countries and explains the impact this gap has on women.
Irina Bokova, Former Director General, UNESCO

Irina Bokova, Former Director General, UNESCO

Irina Bokova, Former Director General, UNESCO

Irina Bokova, Former Director General of UNESCO, explains why digital and financial inclusion of women is so important.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian, CEO, Women’s World Banking

Mary Ellen Iskenderian, CEO, Women’s World Banking

Mary Ellen Iskenderian, CEO, Women’s World Banking

Mary Ellen Iskenderian, CEO of Women's World Banking, shares her views on the importance of financial inclusion of women in low- and middle-income countries and explains what is preventing women from accessing mobile services.
Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA

Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA

Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA

Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA, explains why digital and financial inclusion is such an important issue for women in low- and middle-income countries.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, explains why digital and financial inclusion is such an important issue for women in low- and middle-income countries and shares her views on the primary challenges for addressing the mobile gender gap.
Rachel Samren, Executive VP, Millicom

Rachel Samren, Executive VP, Millicom

Rachel Samren, Executive VP, Millicom

Rachel Samren, Executive VP of Millicom, explains why digital and financial inclusion of women is such an important issue and shares her views on the main challenges involved in closing the mobile gender gap.
Sonia Jorge, Executive Director, A4AI

Sonia Jorge, Executive Director, A4AI

Sonia Jorge, Executive Director, A4AI

Sonia Jorge, Executive Director of A4AI, explains why it is so important to address the mobile gender gap.
Strive Masiyiwa, Chairman, Econet Wireless

Strive Masiyiwa, Chairman, Econet Wireless

Strive Masiyiwa, Chairman, Econet Wireless

Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Chairman of Econet Wireless, explains why digital and financial inclusion of women is an important issue.
Pradeep Shrivastava, CCO, Robi Axiata

Pradeep Shrivastava, CCO, Robi Axiata

Pradeep Shrivastava, CCO, Robi Axiata

Pradeep Shrivastava, CCO of Robi Axiata, talks to Connected Women about why digital and financial inclusion of women is such an important issue and shares what he sees as the primary challenges and solutions for closing the gender gap in mobile internet.
Supun Weerasinghe, Group CEO, Dialog Axiata

Supun Weerasinghe, Group CEO, Dialog Axiata

Supun Weerasinghe, Group CEO, Dialog Axiata

Supun Weerasinghe, Group CEO of Dialog Axiata, talks to Connected Women about why digital and financial inclusion of women is such an important issue and shares what he sees as key for successfully reaching women.

Related Documents

Policy considerations to accelerate digital inclusion for women in low- and middle-income countries

Document

Tuesday 20 Sep 2022 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion | Connected Women | English | Gender | Mobile access and use | Mobile internet for women | Report | Resource |

This report provides an overview of the various challenges that need to be tackled to advance digital inclusion for women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and provides granular recommendations for policymakers to address the ...

Are the effects of mobile money regulation gender neutral?

Document

Monday 15 Feb 2021 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion | Connected Women | English | Financial inclusion for women | Gender | Mobile Money | Research |

This policy note discusses the main findings of new GSMA research on the relationship between mobile money regulation and usage. The analysis combines data from the Mobile Money Regulatory Index and the Global Findex Database 2017 and ...

Reaching 50 Million Women with Mobile: A Practical Guide

Document

Monday 6 Apr 2020 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion | Case studies | Connected Women | English | Financial inclusion for women | Gender | Latin America & the Caribbean | Middle East and North Africa | Mobile internet for women | Report | South Asia | Sub-Saharan Africa |

This report is a practical guide for mobile operators seeking to reach women with mobile across low- and middle-income countries. For the last 10 years, our GSMA Connected Women programme has been dedicated to this challenge.

10 Lessons Learnt: Closing the Gender Gap in Internet Access and Use

Document

Monday 23 Sep 2019 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion | Connected Women | English | Gender | Mobile access and use | Mobile for Development | Mobile internet for women | Report | Resource |

In this report, you will find 10 key lessons to consider when implementing projects that aim to increase women’s access to and use of the internet.

Digital Equity Policy Brief W20 Japan 2019

Document

Thursday 14 Feb 2019 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion | Connected Women |

The W20, under the Japanese Presidency, presents this policy brief to outline some of the challenges for women’s access and meaningful use of digital technologies, and to provide guidance for coordinated and effective action by the G20.

Recommendations for action: bridging the gender gap in Internet and broadband access and use

Document

Monday 19 Nov 2018 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion |

In March 2017, the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development’s Working Group on the Digital Gender Divide, co-chaired by the GSMA and UNESCO, launched a report that outlines a set of practical actions that stakeholders can take ...

W20 Digital Inclusion Background paper

Document

Friday 30 Mar 2018 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion |

As Topic Chair of the Digital Inclusion workstream within the W20, the GSMA commissioned this background paper which summarises the present situation of the digital divide, describes the challenges involved, and reviews existing ...