The digital world presents opportunities and risks to all people. Women in East Africa face unique risks and barriers to digital access compared to men. Even so, there are actions that can be taken to enhance the digital opportunities and safety for women.
The gap between digital literacy and educational curricula is most acute for women, who already face cultural and socioeconomic barriers to employment and participation in formal labor markets. Digital technology plays a crucial role in enhancing women’s empowerment in East Africa.
While educated women with internet access have been able to transition from agricultural work to other employment opportunities, enhancing their livelihoods, women in rural areas often lack access to education and financial support. Specialized digital literacy can empower women with essential technological skills, and women-targeted microfinance initiatives provide financial means to invest in technology and businesses, thereby facilitating economic independence.
Constraints for women in East Africa, and Africa in general, include limited education, employment opportunities, and credit. Women also bear the majority of household activities and experience discriminatory cultural practices that hinder access to capital and markets. More so, women in rural areas.
Strategies, Opportunities and Risks
Strategic coordination between civil society, the private sector, and the government is required to address barriers to digital inclusion and upskill women for the digital age. Evidence shows that internet access and the adoption of new digital technologies create more and better job opportunities for lower-income and lower-skilled individuals, contributing to poverty reduction.
Agriculture, the largest employment sector in all East African countries, employs more women than men. About 79% more women than men in Kenya, 84% in Uganda, and 63% in Tanzania. Digital tools, such as local language videos and smartphone decision support apps, can provide tailored advice, enabling women farmers to achieve higher crop yields.
The digitization of payments from governments to individuals also presents opportunities for the financial inclusion of women, enhancing their economic empowerment through the active use of digital financial services. In Kenya, government initiatives such as the Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) and digital infrastructure programs empower women by providing financial support and access to mobile technology, supporting them to engage in business and digital entrepreneurship.
The WEF further recruits and trains women in skills such as business, market access, and basic ICT, empowering them to access the economic opportunities that come with digitization. They also monitor project progress and loan repayments. Also, through digital technology, women have been able to utilize M-Pesa, a mobile money transfer platform, and plan meetings over WhatsApp.
Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communication, and the Digital Economy has also introduced several infrastructure programs to bring all government services online. Kenya’s National Digital Master Plan 2022–2032 further aims to establish hotspots in public installations in rural areas and public places, providing increased access for women to the digital space.
Collaborations in the region are also making a difference. M-Kopa in Kenya, partnering with Safaricom and Samsung, has launched smartphone pay-as-you-go solutions. Safaricom and Google have partnered to launch an affordable 4G-enabled smartphone that buyers can pay for in installments. These purchase options offer better options for women. Due to such interventions, for the first time in Kenya, the gap in mobile ownership between men and women has narrowed to 1%.
Albeit women still lag in terms of internet usage in Kenya and within East Africa as a whole, women, particularly in rural settings are bound by gender roles and limited in access to digital devices, let alone the digital skills required to use them. Women who do have access to mobile phones but cannot read and write are further hindered as they are at risk of disclosing their passwords to others in making financial transactions.
Further, regulation in the digital world is weak, and there is a need for sufficient security for both the poor and those not-so-poor. Many women have lost money in making transactions, and others have experienced abusive lending issues. Digital illiteracy, as well as limited knowledge and awareness, make women vulnerable to security risks, requiring legal provisions for them.
Other risks to women in the digital space include digital forms of gender-based violence. Forms of violence against women in the digital space include hateful words directed at them, unauthorized access to their accounts hate (hacking), stealing of personal information, online harassment and threats. It includes encouraging suicide and advocating for genocide. Digital spaces may also be used to traffic women, under the guise of legal opportunities.
Social networks make it easier for perpetrators of digital violence to monitor, obtain personal information, and repeatedly send unwanted messages. Automation and AI further make it easier for perpetrators to fabricate images and compound on harassment. Online threats of violence against women and girls are often trivialized, with perpetrators facing no consequences for their behavior. The digital space presents peculiar risks to women.
Recommendations
Social network providers
such as Facebook, Instagram and twitter, as well as the governments, must work together to implement laws and policies that protect women online. Women should be able to immediately pull down and prevent the multiplication of content that is abusive towards them.
Gender based laws across East Africa should be adopted in online spaces with consultation with civil society, youth, and women’s groups, as well as the police. There is a further need for increased awareness and education of digital gender-based violence among the police and citizens.
The government and the private sector must collaborate to subsidize mobile technologies, expand internet access, and develop gender-sensitive policies that promote women’s participation in the digital economy. Targeted interventions, including subsidized mobile phones, free internet hot spots, and affordable data plans, are crucial in enabling women to access digital spaces.
Public-private partnerships and multi-stakeholder initiatives are required to expand and replicate successful initiatives tailored to local contexts, thereby enhancing digital inclusion and opportunities for women across East Africa, particularly in rural areas.
Public-private partnership is also required to support inclusive digital skills training for women. Policies should incentivize digital skill acquisition and create local labor market opportunities for women in emerging digital sectors such as freelancing and remote work.
Overall, the inclusion of women in the digital space enhances opportunities for women, leading to enhanced livelihoods and benefits to women and their societies. There is a real need for the protection of women within digital spaces, especially those most vulnerable to abuse. Solutions must be multi-stakeholder and involve public-private partnerships.
By Achai Kuol
Author’s Bio:
Achai Kuol is a Gender and Safeguarding Associate at Real Life Research Institute. Her expertise lies in gender, inclusion, and program support. She is passionate about teaching and has worked with students from diverse backgrounds, fostering inclusive and interactive learning environments. She has previously supported the African Rebirth Program in Diplomacy, Leadership, and Peacebuilding, managing communications, addressing delegate concerns, and ensuring that safeguarding protocols were followed. At the Real-Life Research Institute, she contributes to advancing gender equality and inclusive practices across programs and also provides support to literacy programs and other trainings. Achai holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Diplomacy and International Affairs.