GSMA | Mobile for Development - Resources

Mobile for Development

MTN MoMo Pay Merchant Payments: Expanding Female Mobile Money Usage in Ghana

Friday 29 May 2020 | Case studies | Case study | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Ghana | Mobile Money for Women | Research | Sub-Saharan Africa |

In Ghana, mobile money has opened access to financial services for millions of people for the first time, strengthening the payment ecosystem and deepening financial inclusion. To encourage the digitisation of merchant payments in ...

Webinar on Demand: Understanding the Mobile Gender Gap in 2020

Thursday 7 May 2020 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile Money for Women | Webinar |

How is the mobile gender gap evolving in the Global South? What are the factors that prevent women’s equal mobile ownership and internet use in 2020? And how are men and women’s use of mobile changing as smartphone ownership grows?

Reaching 50 Million Women with Mobile: A Practical Guide

Monday 6 Apr 2020 | Case studies | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Latin America & the Caribbean | Middle East and North Africa | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile Money 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.

Mobile Gender Gap Report 2020 Methodology

Friday 27 Mar 2020 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Mobile Internet for Women | Report |

This document describes the analysis and modelling undertaken for The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2020 as well as highlighting key areas of methodological change year-on-year.

State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2019

Wednesday 25 Mar 2020 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion | AgriTech | Asia and Australia | Case study | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | East Asia and Pacific | Ecosystem payments | Energy | English | Europe and Central Asia | Financial services products | French | Global | Global and regional studies | Infographic | international remittances | Interoperability | Latin America & the Caribbean | Middle East and North Africa | Mobile for Development | Mobile for Development Utilities | Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation | Mobile Money | Mobile Money for Women | Mobile Money Programme | Policy and regulation | Regulation | Report | Research | Resource | South Asia | Spanish | State of the industry and trends | Sub-Saharan Africa | Video |

This year’s report examines what one billion registered accounts signify for the mobile money industry, mobile money users and the future of the mobile money ecosystem; moving us a step closer to a digital future for all.

GSMA Connected Women: Life Stories from Uganda and India

Sunday 22 Mar 2020 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | India | Life stories | Mobile access and use | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile Money for Women | South Asia | Sub-Saharan Africa | Uganda | Video |

Meet Samidha and Nache, two women from India and Uganda who have been empowered by mobile and have used mobile internet and mobile money to improve their lives. Hear their stories.

Empowering Women Through Mobile: Nache’s Story

Sunday 22 Mar 2020 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Life stories | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile Money for Women | Sub-Saharan Africa | Uganda | Video |

Nache is from a rural village in Uganda and faced considerable challenges in accessing the resources she needed for an education. Learn how she uses mobile to empower herself and access life changing opportunities, enabling her to start her own business.

Empowering Women Through Mobile: Samidha’s Story

Sunday 22 Mar 2020 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | India | Life stories | Mobile access and use | Mobile Internet for Women | South Asia | Video |

Samidha is from Pugaon village, India. She plays a vital role in her family in taking care of her 5 year old nephew who cannot speak or walk. Learn how Samidha uses mobile to help herself and her family to improve their day-to-day lives.

Safaricom Maisha Ni Digital: Driving Digital Inclusion for Women

Saturday 21 Mar 2020 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Kenya | Mobile access and use | Mobile Internet for Women | Sub-Saharan Africa | Video |

In Kenya, women are 34% less likely than men to use mobile internet, and as a result receive fewer life-changing benefits of connectivity. To close this gender gap, Safaricom launched the Maisha Ni Digital ('Life is Digital') campaign.

Celebrating 10 Years of The GSMA Connected Women Programme

Wednesday 18 Mar 2020 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile Money for Women | Video |

2020 marks the 10th anniversary of the Connected Women programme. In this video, we celebrate the progress and achievements that have been made so far by our programme and partners, to accelerate digital and financial inclusion for women.

Mobile for Development brochure 2020

Wednesday 4 Mar 2020 | AgriTech | Assistive Tech | Connected Society | Connected Women | Digital Identity | Ecosystem Accelerator | Global | Mobile for Development Utilities | Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation | Mobile Money | Resource |

GSMA Mobile for Development has recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Ten years in which we have grown from a simple but powerful idea to a global team of 130 and a portfolio of projects that have now impacted ...

The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2020

Wednesday 4 Mar 2020 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Global and regional studies | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile Money for Women | Report | Research |

The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2020 examines how the mobile gender gap is changing quickly in low- and middle-income countries, revealing how the main factors preventing women's equal mobile ownership and internet use are evolving over time.

Driving Financial Inclusion for Women with Vodacom Tanzania

Tuesday 21 Jan 2020 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Financial services products | Gender | Mobile Money for Women | Sub-Saharan Africa | Tanzania | Video |

Harriet Lwakatare of Vodacom Tanzania speaks about the importance of financial inclusion for women, addresses the primary challenge for closing the gender gap in mobile financial services and shares what Vodacom is doing to address these barriers.

Econet’s EcoSure Solution: Driving Women’s Financial Inclusion in Zimbabwe

Monday 23 Dec 2019 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | Gender | Mobile Money for Women | Sub-Saharan Africa | Video | Zimbabwe |

In 2017, Econet signed the GSMA Connected Women Commitment to increase the proportion of women customers in their mobile money customer base by 2020.

2019 #FinclusionWeek with Claire Sibthorpe: How does mobile money contribute to the SDGs?

Friday 1 Nov 2019 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | Ecosystem payments | English | Financial services products | Gender | Global | Mobile Money | Mobile Money for Women | Resource | Video |

In 60 seconds, hear from Claire Sibthorpe, Head of Connected Women and Connected Society at the GSMA, about how mobile money is helping to take action and reduce the gender gap in mobile financial services to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mitigating Women’s Safety Concerns with Mobile: A Case Study of Vodafone Idea’s Sakhi service

Wednesday 16 Oct 2019 | Asia and Australia | Case study | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | India | Life stories | Mobile Internet for Women | Report | Research | Safety and harassment | South Asia |

In October 2018, Vodafone Idea Ltd launched Sakhi, a service to address key barriers women face to accessing and using mobile in India, as well as women’s concerns about personal safety.

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

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

The Mobile Gender Gap: Asia

Friday 20 Sep 2019 | Bangladesh | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | India | Infographic | Mobile for Development | Mobile Internet for Women | Pakistan | Research | Resource | South Asia | Sri Lanka |

South Asia has the widest mobile gender gap of any region. Addressing this is important in order to deliver the significant benefits of mobile and the internet to women, their families, communities and the economy.

The Mobile Gender Gap: Africa

Tuesday 9 Jul 2019 | Connected Women | Cote d'Ivoire | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Infographic | Kenya | Mobile access and use | Mobile for Development | Mobile internet | Mobile Internet for Women | Mozambique | Nigeria | Research | South Africa | Sub-Saharan Africa | Tanzania |

Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the widest mobile gender gaps of any region. Addressing these gender gaps in Africa is important in order to deliver the significant benefits of mobile and the internet to women, their families, communities and the economy.

Webinar on Demand: Understanding the Mobile Gender Gap in 2019

Thursday 9 May 2019 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Mobile access and use | Mobile internet | Mobile Internet for Women | Presentation | Social impact and behavioural change | Video | Webinar |

In LMICs, women are still 10% less likely than men to own a mobile phone and 23% less likely to use mobile internet. The GSMA's Connected Women team hosted a webinar to share the key findings and recommendations from their recent Mobile Gender Gap Report.

Tigo Rwanda: Empowering women agents

Wednesday 19 Apr 2017 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Mobile internet | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile Money for Women | Rwanda | Sub-Saharan Africa | Video |

Tigo Rwanda signed the GSMA Connected Women Commitment Initiative in which they committed to increase the proportion of women in their mobile money customer base. Research has highlighted that lack of trust in digital financial ...

Orange Cote d’Ivoire: Accelerating financial inclusion for women

Wednesday 13 Sep 2017 | Connected Women | Cote d'Ivoire | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Financial services products | Gender | Mobile access and use | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile Money for Women | Sub-Saharan Africa | Video |

In 2017, Orange Cote d’Ivoire committed to reducing the gender gap in their mobile money customer base by 2020. We met some of their female customers to understand how mobile money changed their lives.

CEO of Telenor Pakistan discusses the importance of digital and financial inclusion for women

Wednesday 27 Mar 2019 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Mobile for Development | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile Money for Women | Pakistan | South Asia | Video |

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 ...

CEO of MTN Ghana discusses the importance of financial inclusion for women

Wednesday 27 Mar 2019 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Financial services products | Gender | Ghana | Mobile for Development | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile Money for Women | Sub-Saharan Africa | Video |

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 ...

MWC Barcelona 2019: Connected Women Seminar Recording

Tuesday 26 Mar 2019 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile Money for Women | Presentation | Video |

Did you attend the Connected Women programme's seminar at MWC Barcelona 2019? The full seminar recording is now available to watch online. Catch up on what you missed or recap on the important discussions here.

CEO of Wave Money discusses the importance of financial inclusion for women

Tuesday 19 Mar 2019 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion | Connected Women | English | Financial services products | Gender | Mobile Money | Mobile Money for Women | Myanmar | Video |

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 ...

CMO of Telenor Pakistan explains why Telenor is committed to closing the mobile gender gap

Monday 11 Mar 2019 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Mobile Internet for Women | Pakistan | South Asia | Video |

The GSMA’s Connected Women programme is very pleased to work with Telenor Pakistan in addressing the mobile gender gap in their customer base. Here we speak to Bilal Kazmi, Chief Marketing Officer of Telenor Pakistan, who explains why ...

Global CIO of Bharti Airtel addresses the importance of digital inclusion for women

Monday 11 Mar 2019 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | India | Mobile Internet for Women | South Asia | Video |

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.

Safaricom: Driving Digital Inclusion for Women in Kenya

Thursday 7 Mar 2019 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | Gender | Kenya | Mobile access and use | Mobile Internet for Women | Sub-Saharan Africa | Video |

Charles Kare Wanjohi, Consumer Business Unit Director at Safaricom, explains the importance of digital inclusion for women in Kenya and shares insights into what he believes is the key to closing the mobile gender gap. You can also ...

How MoMo Pay Empowers Female Merchants and Customers in Ghana

Thursday 7 Mar 2019 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | Gender | Gender diversity in the workforce | Ghana | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile Money | Mobile Money for Women | Sub-Saharan Africa | Video |

In Ghana there is a gender gap in mobile money adoption and use which means that fewer women than men benefit from this potentially life-enhancing service. In order to help close this gender gap, MTN Ghana, one of the major mobile ...

Vodafone Sakhi: Voices of Impact from India

Monday 19 Aug 2019 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | Gender | India | Mobile Internet for Women | Safety and harassment | South Asia | Video |

Mobile has the power to make women feel safer. In 2018, Vodafone Idea launched ‘Sakhi’ across India, an exclusive safety service for women, focused on giving them the confidence to live life fearlessly. Vodafone Sakhi’s features ...

The Executive Director of UN Women explains the importance of connecting women

Wednesday 27 Feb 2019 | Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion | Connected Women | Video |

The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2019

Wednesday 20 Feb 2019 | Connected Women | English | Global | Report | Research | Resource |

This report reveals how the mobile gender gap is changing in low- and middle-income countries, ranks the factors preventing equal mobile ownership and mobile internet use, and outlines the opportunities that closing the mobile gender gap represents.

Mobile Gender Gap Report 2019 Methodology

Friday 31 May 2019 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Global | Mobile Internet for Women | Report | Research | Resource |

This document describes the analysis and modelling undertaken for The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2019 as well as highlighting key areas of methodological change year-on-year.

Digital Equity Policy Brief W20 Japan 2019

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.

Transforming Women’s Lives with Mobile: UNGA Panel

Tuesday 23 Oct 2018 | Connected Women | Digital Identity | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | Digital literacy | Digital skills | Financial services products | Gender | Industry Purpose | Mobile access and use | Mobile for Development | Mobile Health | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile literacy | Mobile Money | Mobile Money for Women | Resource | Video |

‘Transforming Women's Lives with Mobile': A Panel Discussion Hosted by the GSMA at UNGA 2018. A conversation with Yasmina McCarty, GSMA; Elisabeth Biering, Telenor; Sanda Ojiambo, Safaricom; and Anna Falth, UN Women, highlighting ...

The GSMA’s Gender Analysis and Identification Toolkit (GAIT)

Friday 31 Aug 2018 | Bangladesh | Big data | Business model | Case study | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Global | Mobile Money for Women | Operational best practices | Resource | Toolkit |

The GSMA's Gender Analysis and Identification Toolkit (GAIT) addresses an issue many mobile operators face: the absence of reliable gender-disaggregated data on mobile ownership and usage. This information gap is an important one to ...

Triggering mobile internet use in Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania

Friday 13 Jul 2018 | Affordability and tax | Connected Society | Connected Women | Cote d'Ivoire | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | Digital literacy | Digital skills | Gender | Mobile access and use | Mobile internet | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile literacy | Report | Research | Resource | Sub-Saharan Africa | Tanzania | User insights and data |

Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest level of mobile broadband coverage in the world; only 63% of the region’s population lived within reach of a 3G network at the end of 2017. It also has the lowest level of mobile internet penetration ...

A toolkit for researching women’s internet access and use

Wednesday 23 May 2018 | Case study | Connected Women | English | Global | Research | Resource |

While an increasing number of people are now using the internet, the lack of comparable and accurate gender disaggregated data obscures the true extent of the differences in access to, and use of the internet between men and women. ...

A framework to understand women’s mobile-related safety concerns in low-and middle-income countries

Wednesday 28 Mar 2018 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Mobile Internet for Women | Operational best practices | Report | Research | Resource | Safety and harassment | Social impact and behavioural change |

There is a paradoxical relationship between mobile technology and women’s safety; while access to a mobile can make a woman feel safer, mobiles can also be a conduit for threats and these can act as a barrier to access and usage. Based ...

The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2018

Monday 26 Feb 2018 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Mobile for Development | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile Money for Women | Report | Resource |

Please note, there is an updated version of the Mobile Gender Gap Report. Download the

Triggering mobile internet use among men and women in South Asia

Friday 17 Nov 2017 | Affordability and tax | Bangladesh | Connected Society | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | Digital literacy | Digital skills | English | Gender | India | Mobile access and use | Mobile internet | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile literacy | Pakistan | Report | Research | Resource | South Asia | Sri Lanka | User insights and data |

Adoption and use of mobile internet is far from universal or equitable, with women, those with less education, rural residents, and the poor accounting for a disproportionate number of non-users. This GSMA Connected Women and GSMA ...

Mapping the mobile money gender gap: insights from Cote d’Ivoire and Mali

Wednesday 26 Jul 2017 | Case studies | Connected Women | Cote d'Ivoire | Digital Inclusion for Women | Digital literacy | English | French | Gender | Mali | Mobile access and use | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile literacy | Mobile Money | Mobile Money for Women | Mobile Money Programme | Research | Resource | Sub-Saharan Africa | Video |

Despite significant growth in mobile money over the last decade, there are still wide gender gaps in mobile money account ownership and usage. There is valuable data on the gender gap in mobile financial services, but to better target ...

Accelerating affordable smartphone ownership in emerging markets

Monday 3 Jul 2017 | Affordability and tax | Connected Society | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | Digital literacy | Digital skills | English | Gender | Global | Local content | Mobile access and use | Mobile internet | Mobile Internet for Women | Mobile literacy | Report | Research | Resource | User insights and data |

This is a research study into the smartphone ecosystem landscape and business models that drive affordable smartphone access. It is directed at actors interested in enhancing consumers’ smartphone ownership in emerging markets. ...

Using your data to drive growth in women’s use of mobile money services

Wednesday 21 Dec 2016 | Connected Women | English | Financial services products | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Mobile Money for Women | Report | Resource | User insights and data |

Mobile financial services have proven to be a game changer for financial inclusion. However, women are consistently less likely than men to access these services. This is a loss to women, many of whom have yet to reap the benefits of ...

Mobile phones, internet, and gender in Myanmar

Friday 26 Feb 2016 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Mobile access and use | Myanmar | Resource | South Asia | User insights and data |

This report on Myanmar explores the reasons for the gender gap in mobile ownership and low internet use, and recommends actions for stakeholders to overcome these barriers. It is the outcome of a research collaboration between GSMA ...

Women and Mobile Money – Insights from Kenya

Thursday 3 Dec 2015 | Connected Women | Country | English | Financial services products | Gender | Kenya | Language | Programme | Region | Report | Resource | Resource Type | Sub-Saharan Africa | Type | User insights and data |

Mobile money is widely cited as the game-changer for financial inclusion and the growth driver for the African mobile industry. However, recent studies have shown that across Africa women are consistently less likely than men to use ...

Swadhaar, Accion, and Airtel Money: Mobile money for female customers in India

Wednesday 21 Oct 2015 | Connected Women | English | Financial services products | Gender | India | Mobile access and use | Resource | South Asia |

In January 2013, Swadhaar, a microfinance institution in India, and Accion, an international NGO, launched a mobile money pilot in partnership with Airtel Money and Axis Bank. The pilot aimed to enable Swadhaar’s loan customers to ...

Orange Mali: Reaching women customers with mobile savings and insurance

Monday 19 Oct 2015 | Case study | Connected Women | Digital literacy | English | Financial services products | Gender | Mali | Mobile access and use | Mobile literacy | Resource | Sub-Saharan Africa |

In relatively mature mobile money markets, introducing new products could be a valuable way to build customer loyalty while also bringing new customers on board. In Mali, where mobile money customers tend to use their mobile money ...

HNI Madagascar: Information via mobile to tackle gender-based violence

Wednesday 12 Aug 2015 | Case study | Connected Women | English | Gender | Madagascar | Mobile access and use | Resource | Safety and harassment | Sub-Saharan Africa |

3-2-1 is a free, on-demand voice and text-based information service that has attracted over 3 million Airtel Madagascar subscribers since it launched in March 2010. The 3-2-1 Service is provided by HNI, an international NGO, and ...

Uninor: Project Sampark

Friday 31 Jul 2015 | Case study | Connected Women | English | Gender | India | Mobile access and use | Resource | South Asia |

In India a woman is 36% less likely to own a mobile phone than a man, which suggests that women are still an untapped market and represent a major opportunity for mobile operators to increase their customer base and revenue. Telenor ...

BRAC Bangladesh: Partnering for mEducation

Friday 31 Jul 2015 | Bangladesh | Case study | Connected Women | English | Gender | Mobile access and use | Resource | South Asia |

This case study tells the story of NGO BRAC Bangladesh partnering with operator Robi Axiata and the British Council to develop and launch an mEducation value-added service (VAS) for adolescent girls. Developed with the support of a ...

Airtel Uganda: A Mobile Money Solution for Savings Groups

Wednesday 17 Jun 2015 | Case study | Connected Women | English | Financial services products | Gender | Mobile access and use | Resource | Sub-Saharan Africa | Uganda |

“Airtel Weza” is an innovative mobile money solution for savings groups. This case study outlines how Airtel Uganda partnered with Grameen Foundation to design and launch the product. It also provides useful lessons and recommendations ...

Grameen Foundation: Bringing “Mobile Midwife” to Nigeria

Wednesday 17 Jun 2015 | Connected Women | English | Gender | Mobile access and use | Nigeria | Research | Resource | Sub-Saharan Africa |

Grameen Foundation replicated its “Mobile Midwife” service from Ghana to Nigeria in order to address the high maternal and child mortality rates there. “Mobile Midwife” delivers medically sound, stage-based health information to ...

Accelerating Digital Literacy: Empowering women to use the mobile internet

Tuesday 16 Jun 2015 | Connected Society | Connected Women | Country | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | Digital literacy | English | Gender | Global | India | Indonesia | Language | Mobile access and use | Mobile internet | Programme | Region | Report | Research | Resource | Resource Type | Type | User insights and data |

In developing countries, the number of unique subscribers using mobile internet grew from 728 million in 2010 to 1.8 billion in 2014 (source: GSMA Intelligence Q4 2014). Mobile internet access can have profound implications for women’s ...

M4D Impact Service Evaluation: Human Network International 3-2-1

Thursday 11 Jun 2015 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Madagascar | Mobile access and use | Research | Resource | Sub-Saharan Africa | User insights and data |

This report is the result of an evaluation conducted by GSMA M4D Impact, of Connected Women grantee HNI’s 3-2-1 service in Madagascar that offers public service information via Airtel 3-2-1 on a range of topics including health, ...

Weena: Moov’s Value Proposition for the Women of Togo

Thursday 14 May 2015 | Connected Women | English | Gender | Mobile access and use | Resource | Sub-Saharan Africa | Togo | User insights and data |

Weena is Moov Togo’s mobile offering tailored to resource-poor women in Togo. The Weena offering includes a tailored tariff plan and a loyalty scheme that benefit not only individual women, but also the community as a whole. Indeed, ...

A Mobile Business School: Tigo Tanzania and EduMe

Monday 13 Apr 2015 | Case study | Connected Women | English | Gender | Mobile access and use | Resource | Sub-Saharan Africa | Tanzania |

When consumer insights research revealed that Tanzanian women wanted to improve their business skills, Tigo Tanzania responded by launching a mobile business school which provides a step-by-step guide on how to start and run a ...

Snapshot: SEWA RUDI – A customer-centric approach to designing mobile services for women

Tuesday 31 Mar 2015 | Case study | Connected Women | English | Gender | India | Mobile access and use | Resource | South Asia | User insights and data |

This snapshot explains the importance of involving women at the design stage when developing mobile services for women, and shares lessons from SEWA’s journey of developing RUDI Sandesha Vyavhaar (RSV), or the RUDI Information Service, ...

Snapshot: Swadhaar, Accion & Airtel Money – Mobile money training for female customers in India

Tuesday 31 Mar 2015 | Case study | Connected Women | Digital skills | English | Financial services products | Gender | India | Mobile access and use | Mobile literacy | Resource | South Asia |

Customer marketing and education are always important to driving the adoption of mobile money, but they are absolutely crucial for female customers, who generally take more time than men to trust and start using mobile money services. ...

Snapshot: HNI & Airtel – Creating relevant gender content with local partners in Madagascar

Tuesday 31 Mar 2015 | Case study | Connected Women | English | Gender | Madagascar | Mobile access and use | Resource | Sub-Saharan Africa | User insights and data |

Sourcing local relevant content can be difficult enough for mobile operators when developing a new service. Creating such content and intending it to lead to behaviour change, especially on the topic of gender rights, is even more ...

Mobile Technical Literacy Toolkit

Friday 27 Mar 2015 | Connected Women | Digital skills | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Mobile literacy | Resource | Toolkit | User insights and data |

Mobile Technical Literacy – the ability to use a mobile phone and its non-voice and core functions – has been identified as a barrier to women’s awareness and usage of mobile services across low- and middle-income countries. What has ...

Bridging the gender gap: Mobile access and usage in low- and middle-income countries

Thursday 26 Feb 2015 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion for Women | Gender | Global | Mobile internet | Mobile Internet for Women | Report | Research | Resource | User insights and data |

This report examines how many women in low- and middle-income countries own mobile phones, how intensively they use them, and the barriers to mobile phone adoption and use compared to men, providing actionable insights and ...

Accelerating the digital economy: Gender diversity in the telecommunications sector

Wednesday 25 Feb 2015 | Connected Women | English | Gender | Gender diversity in the workforce | Global | Research | Resource |

Despite progress in women’s representation in the telecommunications industry, a gender gap persists, which is particularly noticeable at the leadership level. This global report provides a snapshot of the current state of gender ...

Sylvie: A Tigo Cash Agent in Rwanda

Monday 23 Feb 2015 | Case studies | Connected Women | English | Gender | Life stories | Mobile Money | Mobile Money Programme | Resource | Resource Type | Rwanda | Sub-Saharan Africa | Type | Video |

Tigo’s Cash service facilitates micro-transactions that are safe, fast, and affordable. It also transforms the lives of its many agents, enabling them to progress their careers and contribute to their families. Here, we speak to ...

Savings Groups: A rural sales channel for mobile money in Africa?

Tuesday 13 Jan 2015 | Blog | Connected Women | Financial services products | Mobile access and use | Resource | Sub-Saharan Africa | Uganda |

In their 2015 Annual Letter, Bill and Melinda Gates made the following statement: “Mobile banking will help the poor transform their lives”. We at GSMA ...

Striving and Surviving in Papua New Guinea: Exploring the Lives of Women at the Base of the Pyramid

Friday 21 Nov 2014 | Connected Women | Country | East Asia and Pacific | English | Gender | Language | Mobile access and use | Papua New Guinea | Programme | Region | Report | Resource | Resource Type | Type |

The mobile industry – and indeed much of the world – knows little about the lives, struggles and aspirations of women in Papua New Guinea (PNG), particularly those living at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP). What are their greatest ...

Snapshot: Maymay in Myanmar. How and why Ooredoo are targeting Myanmar women

Tuesday 11 Nov 2014 | Connected Women | Country | English | Gender | Language | Mobile access and use | Myanmar | Programme | Region | Report | Resource | Resource Type | South Asia | Type |

Growing mobile data penetration among low-income populations is a challenge for mobile operators (MNOs) across the developing world. However, the poor access to basic services within this segment presents a clear opportunity for ...

Reaching half of the market: Women and mobile money

Wednesday 10 Sep 2014 | Connected Women | English | Financial services products | French | Global | MNOs' operational and strategic issues | Mobile access and use | Mobile Money | Mobile Money Programme | Operational best practices | Programme | Region | Report | Research | Resource | Resource Type | Spanish | State of the industry and trends | Type | User insights and data |

This publication addresses barriers that prevent women from accessing and using mobile money, and highlights some of the key tactics that mobile money providers can use to increase penetration amongst women. This is the first ...

Snapshot: Consumer Insights for Adolescent Girls – the case of BRAC in Bangladesh

Friday 29 Aug 2014 | Bangladesh | Case study | Connected Women | English | Gender | Mobile access and use | Resource | South Asia | User insights and data |

Rural adolescent girls are an untapped market for mobile operators in countries like Bangladesh. However, creating a mobile service for them is challenging, as they are often a market segment that is difficult to reach due to existing ...

Snapshot: Grameen Foundation’s “Mobile Midwife” Service in Nigeria – How to generate and use consumer insights to localise mHealth content

Thursday 28 Aug 2014 | Case study | Connected Women | English | Gender | Local content | Mobile access and use | Nigeria | Resource | Sub-Saharan Africa | User insights and data |

Once a life-enhancing value-added service has reached scale in a market, the next step is to replicate it in other geographies. Grameen Foundation did this when they took their maternal and child health information service from Ghana ...

mWomen Innovation Fund Grants

Tuesday 24 Jun 2014 | Connected Women | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Research | Resource |

The mWomen programme has awarded 11 Innovation Grants to operators and NGOs. The grants provide seed funding for the design and launch of economically sustainable products and services which increase women's access to and ...

Women in Agriculture: a Toolkit for Mobile Services Practitioners

Wednesday 18 Jun 2014 | AgriTech | Connected Women | Content creation and stylization | Global | Mobile access and use | Product development and product design | Resource | Social impact and behavioural change | Toolkit | User insights and data |

The ‘Women in Agriculture: a Toolkit for Mobile Services Practitioners', created in partnership with GSMA mWomen, is a resource for MNOs and members of the wider mobile ecosystem who are thinking to develop mobile ...

Partnerships Insights Paper

Friday 13 Jun 2014 | Connected Women | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Research | Resource |

For operators to take advantage of the revenue potential found in underserved communities in emerging markets, the formation of efficient and effective partnerships between operators and social sector organizations that have ...

Snapshot: MAMA in Bangladesh – Including men in mobile services for women

Thursday 17 Apr 2014 | Bangladesh | Case study | Connected Women | English | Gender | Mobile access and use | Resource | South Asia | User insights and data |

In cultures where women's empowerment is a complex, challenging subject on both social and cultural levels, men can be the champions or detractors to any approach. MAMA tackles this issue by integrating men and other household members ...

Snapshot: Etisalat in Togo and Benin

Monday 24 Feb 2014 | Benin | Case study | Connected Women | English | Gender | Mobile access and use | Resource | Sub-Saharan Africa | Togo | User insights and data |

This document illustrates how mobile operators aim to reach rural women in emerging markets through innovative business models. This snapshot illustrates one such model, the "Weena" program, developed by Etisalat Group and launched by ...

Insights: Tigo in Tanzania – Qualitative Research as a Way to Gain In-depth Consumer Understanding of Base of the Pyramid Women

Sunday 23 Feb 2014 | Connected Women | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Research | Resource | Tanzania | User insights and data |

This insights paper draws on Tigo Tanzania’s experience in using qualitative research to gain a deep understanding of the resource-poor women’s segment. It offers operators practical guidance on how to analyse existing customer data, ...

Case study: Dialog’s 5 Star Partner Programme – Integrating women into the rural retail chain

Friday 21 Feb 2014 | Case study | Connected Women | Digital literacy | Digital skills | English | Gender | Mobile access and use | Resource | South Asia | Sri Lanka | User insights and data |

Creating a rural network of trained female retailers can be an effective way for mobile operators to reach new rural women customers. This case study of Dialog's "5 Star Partner" programme in Sri Lanka reveals the social and commercial ...

Snapshot: Turkcell in Turkey – Engaging women micro-entrepreneurs

Wednesday 19 Feb 2014 | Case study | Connected Women | English | Financial services products | Gender | Resource | South Asia | Turkey |

Women entrepreneurs are economically active and technologically savvy. Turkcell is tapping into this segment by helping women to start and grow their businesses. The initiative helps promote the participation of women in the economy ...

Transforming Women’s Livelihoods Through Mobile Broadband: A study on the value of mobile broadband for working women in the developing world

Wednesday 19 Feb 2014 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Research | Resource | User insights and data |

This report is based on research that was designed to uncover and characterize the various forms of value that mobile broadband provides to working women in the developing world and identify the barriers that block feature phone owners ...

SMS Peer Networking Service For Female Entrepreneurs

Thursday 5 Dec 2013 | Connected Women | English | Gender | Language | Life stories | Middle East and North Africa | Programme | Region | Resource | Resource Type | Type | Video |

Of the 2.5 million people in the West Bank, nearly a third are unemployed women. Women face particularly acute challenges in the entering the workforce due to a confluence of cultural norms, political instability, a stagnated economy ...

Mobile Birth Registration in Uganda

Thursday 20 Jun 2013 | Connected Women | Country | English | Gender | Language | Life stories | Programme | Region | Resource | Resource Type | Sub-Saharan Africa | Type | Uganda | Video |

In most countries around the world, proof of identity is an essential prerequisite for gaining access to basic services, including enrolling in basic education, health care services, or even claiming rights to inheritance or obtaining ...

Mrs Enay, Sukaresmi, West Java, Indonesia

Tuesday 16 Apr 2013 | Connected Women | Country | East Asia and Pacific | English | Gender | Indonesia | Language | Life stories | Programme | Region | Resource | Resource Type | Type | Video |

Mrs Enay runs a small grocery store. She explains the impact mobile has had on her life.

Mrs Cici, Gunung Salek, West Java, Indonesia

Thursday 11 Apr 2013 | Connected Women | Country | East Asia and Pacific | Gender | Indonesia | Life stories | Programme | Region | Resource | Resource Type | Type | Video |

Mrs Cici works as a wedding make-up artist in her village in Indonesia. She explains the impact mobile has had on her life.

GSMA mWomen Marketing Handbook

Wednesday 27 Feb 2013 | Connected Women | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Resource | Toolkit | User insights and data |

The GSMA mWomen Marketing Handbook, created in partnership with Altai Consulting, is a resource for mobile network operators and other members of the mobile ecosystem to improve their approach to marketing to low-income women in ...

Unlocking the Potential: Women and Mobile Financial Services in Emerging Markets – Executive Summary

Monday 25 Feb 2013 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | English | Financial services products | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Research | Resource |

Executive summary of February 2013 report, produced in partnership with Visa Inc, which offers insights on women’s needs for financial management tools and use of mobile financial services in Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, Papua New ...

Unlocking the Potential: Women and Mobile Financial Services in Emerging Markets

Monday 25 Feb 2013 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | English | Financial services products | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Research | Resource |

This February 2013 report, produced in partnership with Visa Inc, offers insights on women’s needs for financial management tools and use of mobile financial services in Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Tanzania. It ...

Florence, Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya

Friday 1 Feb 2013 | Case studies | Connected Women | English | Gender | Kenya | Life stories | mHealth | Mobile Money | Mobile Money Programme | Programme | Resource | Resource Type | Sub-Saharan Africa | Type | Video |

“The day my kid felt sick, the mobile phone gave me a chance. I just called the doctor direct and asked for the first aid I could perform to the baby. I found it made my work easier” Florence is one of the approximately one million ...

Rachel, from a remote rural community near Morogoro, Tanzania

Tuesday 22 Jan 2013 | AgriTech | Case studies | Connected Women | English | Gender | Language | Life stories | Mobile Money | Mobile Money Programme | Programme | Region | Resource | Resource Type | Sub-Saharan Africa | Tanzania | Type | Video |

Lying outside Morogoro, close to the building of a vast new road, lies a small village. In its compass is a leper hospital. The nurses who offer administer palliative care to its patients are not well paid. In a scheme designed to ...

Sophia, Masai Village, Hell’s Gate National Park, Kenya

Friday 15 Jun 2012 | Case studies | Connected Society | Connected Women | Country | English | Gender | Kenya | Language | Life stories | mHealth | Mobile Money | Mobile Money Programme | Programme | Region | Resource | Resource Type | Sub-Saharan Africa | Type | Video |

In June 2012, Mobile for Development travelled to Kenya to meet the Masai Villagers of Hell’s Gate National Park near Lake Naivasha in Kenya. The Masai are pastoralists, farming sheep, chicken and cows and selling both primary and ...

Striving & Surviving: Exploring the Lives of Women at the Base of the Pyramid

Monday 27 Feb 2012 | Connected Women | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Research | Resource | User insights and data |

Full length research report surveying the wants, needs, aspirations and mobile uses of women living at the base of the pyramid (BoP), which are those living on under US$2 a day. Conducted in partnership with the Australian Agency for ...

GSMA mWomen Research Toolkit

Monday 27 Feb 2012 | Connected Women | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Resource | Toolkit | User insights and data |

"This toolkit contains all research tools used to create ‘Striving and Surviving: Exploring the Lives of Base of the Pyramid Women’ These include: Ethnography Observation Guide Focus Group Discussion ...

Portraits: A Glimpse into the Lives of Base of the Pyramid Women

Monday 27 Feb 2012 | Connected Women | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Research | Resource | User insights and data |

This research report is the first to survey the wants, needs, aspirations and mobile uses of women living at the base of the pyramid (BoP), which are those living on under US$2 a day. Conducted in partnership with the Australian Agency ...

Striving & Surviving: Exploring the Lives of Women at the Base of the Pyramid

Monday 27 Feb 2012 | Connected Women | Country | English | Gender | Global | Language | Programme | Region | Report | Resource | Resource Type | Type |

Full length research report surveying the wants, needs, aspirations and mobile uses of women living at the base of the pyramid (BoP), which are those living on under US$2 a day. Conducted in partnership with the Australian Agency for ...

Impact Pathway for Mobile & Women

Sunday 26 Feb 2012 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Research | Resource |

The Impact Pathway for Mobile and Women explores how women can be empowered through ownership and effective usage of mobile phones, and how access for women to life-enhancing mobile services can lead to economic advancement, and ...

Realising the mWomen Opportunity: A Framework for Designing the mWomen Business Case

Sunday 26 Feb 2012 | Connected Women | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Resource | Toolkit | User insights and data |

This framework is designed to help MNOs gather evidence that women are valuable mobile subscribers and highlight best practices and proposed approaches to targeting these women. Though regional and local contexts will factor heavily ...

Uninor: Empowering Women through an Innovative Distribution Model

Wednesday 30 Nov 2011 | Connected Women | English | Gender | India | Mobile access and use | Research | Resource | South Asia |

Evaluation of Uninor's innovative pilot program, Citizen Centre Enterprises (CCEs), which delivers business service through a network of women entrepreneurs in partnership with non governmental organisation Hand in Hand. The study ...

Vodafone Qatar’s Al Johara: empowerment through entrepreneurship

Friday 24 Jun 2011 | Case study | Connected Women | English | Gender | Mobile access and use | Qatar | Resource | South Asia |

Empowerment through entrepreneurship, this case study examines how Vodafone created a network of female sales agents who sell to other women whilst working within appropriate Qatari cultural norms.

Policy Recommendations to Address the Mobile Phone Gender Gap

Sunday 1 May 2011 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Research | Resource | User insights and data |

This paper summarises the GSMA mWomen recommendations for policymakers. Governments and policy makers have a critical role to play in empowering women through mobile technology and are a pivotal part of the ecosystem required for ...

Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity

Tuesday 16 Feb 2010 | Connected Women | Digital Inclusion | Digital Inclusion for Women | English | Gender | Global | Mobile access and use | Research | Resource | User insights and data |

The report is the first global study of its kind. It endeavours to understand mobile usage by women subscribers in low and middle income countries and highlights the barriers facing women’s adoption of mobile technologies. It also ...