According to a recent GSM Association survey, 440 million women in Nigeria and other developing nations do not own mobile phones.
In its “The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023,” the international trade association for telecommunications companies revealed that the primary obstacles to owning a mobile phone continue to be affordability, literacy, digital skills, and lack of perceived significance.
It said, “The underlying gender gap in mobile ownership across low- and middle-income countries has changed very little since 2017.
“Women across these countries are seven per cent less likely than men to own a mobile phone. 440 million women still do not own one and are proving difficult to reach. The top reported barriers to mobile phone ownership are affordability, literacy and digital skills and lack of perceived relevance. Women who do not own a phone were more likely than men to report that being able to use someone else’s phone made them feel they did not need one of their own.”
The organization claims that the worldwide economic crisis in 2022 caused women’s levels of mobile ownership and mobile internet uptake to either keep the same or rise in the majority of survey countries. It claimed that despite similar shifts in men’s adoption rates, the gender divides in cell ownership and mobile internet adoption had not been closed.
There were 130 million fewer women than men who had a mobile phone, according to the study, which found that 7% of women were less likely than males to do so.
“The gender gap in smartphone ownership also remained relatively unchanged in 2022. This gender gap had been narrowing, but it widened slightly in 2021 to 18 per cent and now stands at 17 per cent. Addressing these gender gaps is crucial, as owning a mobile phone, particularly a smartphone, significantly increases mobile internet awareness and use among men and women,” GSMA argued.
According to the GSMA report, the gender gap on mobile Internet decreased significantly from 25% to 15% between 2017 and 2020. It was found that after the gender gap marginally expanded to 18% in 2021, development stagnated.
It was found that women are currently 19% less likely than males to utilize mobile internet, maintaining a broadly stable gender difference.
In low- and middle-income nations, 60 million women adopted mobile Internet in 2022, but overall, 310 million fewer women than males use mobile internet.
GSMA explained, “In 2022, there was no notable change in any regional gender gaps in mobile ownership or mobile Internet, with the widest gaps still in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Women are 41 per cent less likely than men to use mobile Internet in South Asia and 36 per cent less likely than men to do so in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing economic crisis, this further slowdown in digital inclusion is perhaps not surprising.
“However, it is a stark reminder to focus attention, action, and investment on addressing the digital divide, particularly the digital gender divide.”
According to the association, the mobile Internet gender gap did not reduce in 2022, and it remains unchanged, only 360 million more women in LMICs will adopt it by 2030 (compared to 490 million more men).
It was noted that an additional 450 million women would need to begin using mobile Internet, bringing the total to 810 million women, or the equivalent of 100 million women on average every year, in order to close the gap by 2030.
The gender difference in mobile ownership and mobile Internet usage, according to the GSMA, not only reflects existing gender disparities but also poses a threat to widen them, especially as economies suffer from the present economic crisis and mobile becomes more expensive.
By 2030, it is anticipated that the mobile sector would generate an additional $230 billion in revenue if the gender gap in mobile ownership is closed.
