Smartphones and mobile Internet, millions of Africans can only dream of this, while many of the men are already online. The lack of gender equality has political and economic consequences.
Aissata case has a smart phone, but online, the Senegalese woman, which screens is never. Because the mobile Internet is a double-edged sword: “It is true, that the Smartphone is an indispensable tool, both professionally and when it comes to contact with family and friends.” Many women, however, the money was missing, to go online. And there is another reason: “If a married woman, such as, for example, I get nasty messages or photos are sent, this may result in the case of a jealous husband problems,” she says of the DW.
Women like you, there are many in Africa. Still, 200 million Africans are offline, voluntarily or involuntarily. And only two out of three women will ever own a cell phone. Not even every third regularly uses mobile data, in the case of men there are, however, seven out of ten. The gap between the sexes – in the jargon “Mobile Internet Gender Gap (MIGG) is located at 41 per cent.
‘Men are online a lot of networked”
Also, the lawyer Yalwati Shuaibu from Nigeria is using your phone to read work emails. “As soon as I’m home, I take care of my family and don’t go online,” she told DW. “In my home region, women use the mobile Internet, many do not have Smartphones. Men are there for many reasons different: you’re online a lot, networked and track more targets than women.”
Why the gap? A report of the employers ‘ Association GSMA, the mobile operators from all over the world have joined together, are called the four causes: lack of Internet skills and literacy, the lack of affordability of mobile data, relevant content, and safety. “To use a cell phone there is a need for digital education and there are women often the back,” explains Agnes Odhiambo, an expert on women’s rights in the people Interview rights organization “Human Rights Watch” in the DW. “In addition, mobile phones and data packages are not cheap. A woman in a village in Kenya would be more likely to buy a goat for the family as a Smartphone. And for a family, there are seven Kenyan shilling (0,07$) for mobile data too much.”
Also Irene Lourenço Paulino from Quelimane in Mozambique would like to use the Internet. Less than half of all women in your home country has a Smartphone. Just one in ten surfs the net. “I don’t use the Internet, although I have an Internet-enabled mobile phone,” said the 21-year-old student to the DW. “I would like to download books, but this is not easy. The volume of data is much too expensive.”
Billion-Dollar Opportunities
Added to this are the social restrictions: the possession of a smartphone is in some places as inappropriate, women can’t recharge on their own mobile phones or have to justify in front of their men for a Smartphone and data package purchases. “And, most recently, in the rural areas of Africa often do not have electricity. Women working on the Farm, water and look after the children the time to run three more hours to charge your phone,” says the human rights activist Odhiambo did not get often.
Irene Lourenço would like to more frequently use the mobile Internet for learning purposes
However, whether a job, sell or Research: the access to the Internet is, above all, economically essential. The GSMA estimates that If as many men and women around the world use mobile Internet, could increase the global gross domestic product of 700 billion dollars (the equivalent of about 628 billion Euro). Also Africa offer the great opportunities: Last year, the continent through mobile technologies and services, 110 billion US dollars (the equivalent of about EUR 99 million). Three million people work in the sectors. By 2022, the mobile economy is expected to generate in the Region of more than 150 billion U.S. dollars (approximately 135 million Euro).
And there is more to it than economy. Graça Samo, Mozambique women’s rights activist, says: “In Mozambique, the elections are this year, and then the mobile Internet is a way to communicate with women, to explain what it is about, why participation in democratic elections is important and how women in decision-making can be involved. So you can drag your guide to the responsibility.”
With education against the Gender Gap
The GSMA has a number of ideas, such as the Mobile Gender Gap would be. Governments should set clear goals, how more women can go online. In addition, mobile training, and products that fit to the women and their financial possibilities.
In Africa, women stay for many reasons offline
In Ghana, the non-governmental organization “Africa ICT Right has launched” a program to motivate girls to a career in the information and communication technology. In addition, the organization seeks to provide more women in rural communities with mobile phones and counting on the help of local operators such as Vodafone Ghana and MTN. UNESCO, Africa ICT Right, and mobile phone companies such as Orange also have a focus on improving the reading ability of women to benefit from mobile services and content.
Agnes Odhiambo of Human Rights Watch wishes to see more of such initiatives. “You have to speak in a language that the women understand the importance. It is important that women have access to mobile phones and the Internet. We live in the digital age, information is Power,” says the feminist. Because the future is full of opportunities for African women. “Women Do are important for the economy. Half the world consists of women, build families, and our society and to forget means that we exploit the potential of our economy.”
Employees: Mamadou Alpha Diallo, Marcelino Mueia, Zainab Rabo