Although only 21.9% of women in Africa are connected, compared to 28.9% of men, their use of the Internet is being put to good use. Better still, they are transforming the continent through the solutions they implement. If Africa does not want to miss the turn of the 4th industrial revolution, that of artificial intelligence, it will have to rely on women and encourage digital inclusion.
By Dounia Ben Mohamed
Already the continent of female entrepreneurship_ with the highest rate of female entrepreneurs in the world, 27%_, is Africa on its way to becoming the continent of the women’s revolution 4.0? Despite the major inequalities that remain between women and men, the continent’s women entrepreneurs have very quickly seized the opportunities offered to them by digital technology, precisely in order to overcome the discrimination to which they are still subject.
In all areas – employment, education, health, governance – they operate and innovate through solutions that respond to local problems. Their role, already recognised as a driving force for sustainable development, is thus multiplied.
Even if there are still many obstacles – access to digital tools and skills, to funding – in this rapidly and constantly evolving market, African women in the technology sector benefit from unprecedented representation.
According to the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), in Africa, 18.6% of women have access to the Internet compared to 24.9% of men. Although the number of Internet users is growing steadily (+20% per year), the gender digital divide is still very much present.
Rush to STEM fields
Although women currently account for only 30% of the technology industry in Africa, their rush into STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, encouraged by a number of initiatives, suggests that in a booming digital sector, women will play an increasingly important role. And in a big way.
Especially as 90% of jobs in the future will require digital skills. Training in digital professions is thus confirmed as a career accelerator for women.
According to a study by the venture capital firm Illuminate Ventures, technology companies run by women have a 35% higher return on investment than those whose top management is male.
In the era of the AfCFTA, digitalization can help women, who produce nearly 65% of the continent’s goods, to increase their revenues in their businesses. And at the same time increase their impact in the real economy. Studies show that women earn more income and 90% of their budgets are reinvested in the well-being of their families to improve daily life, namely education and health. In other words, in development.
Transforming the financial sector
The final battle remains. Access to finance. Worldwide, men represent 92% of the partners of the top 100 venture capital firms, and start-ups created by women receive only 2% of the investments of these firms. In its latest report, the investment fund Partech, which specialises in financing start-ups in Africa, revealed that African women-founded start-ups raised $834 million in 2021, which is 16% of the total funds raised in the same year by all start-ups operating on the continent ($5.2 billion). According to the same report, fintechs raised $3.2 billion in the past year, accounting for 62% of all funding.
But here again, women are the main drivers of change. Investing in the continent’s burgeoning fintech sector, they are helping to transform the financial sector. Thanks to the implementation of new business models, this sector is making it possible to solve a number of daily challenges, such as access to water, electricity, education, health and better knowledge of the market. Indeed, fintech offers a range of digital financial services at affordable prices. These companies use technology to reach a wider customer base, avoiding the high costs of infrastructure. With this new model, they can better manage the costs of their services.
Women first!
In view of its significant social impact, at the heart of all public policies, support for women’s entrepreneurship has become a priority for both public and donor actors on the continent. Even the private sector is multiplying competitions and programs exclusively dedicated to women and technology, such as the linguere digital challenge, aimed at promoting women in the field of information and communication technologies. Similarly, the AFAWA initiative (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa) aims to close the financing gap, which is estimated at 42 billion dollars. Or the eTrade forWomen initiative launched by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which aims to make women digital entrepreneurs a vehicle for wealth creation in developing countries.
Adapting public policies
Public policies need to be adapted to address the specific challenges faced by women. Accelerating regulatory reforms, such as reducing sector taxes and tariffs, can make mobile services more affordable for end users, especially women, who make up the majority of the unconnected.
With the arrival on the political scene of more and more women, especially at the head of ministries in charge of digital (Aurélie Adam Soulé in Benin, Cina Lawson in Togo, or Paula Ingabire in Rwanda), these issues are increasingly taken into account.
Unquestionably, if the Africa of tomorrow will evolve at the pace of digital, women will be at the forefront of this transformation. A fair return: the first coders, the first developers and researchers who have marked the history of digital technology, it should be remembered, are women. Ada Lovelace in the 19th century, Grace Hopper, Karen Spärck Jones, Margaret Hamilton in the 20th century, and more recently Shafi Goldwasser, have paved the way for generations of Women in Tech!
