How do they use their phones?
Women use their phones to stay connected, manage financial transactions, consume entertainment, express themselves, and access information for everyday needs. Patterns of use are shaped by relevance, familiarity, and the constraints of their social and material contexts.
Mobile Ownership (DHS-8 2022)
100%Smartphone Ownership
96%Uses Mobile for Financial Transactions
99%
Reach and Connection
Uses platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook to expand her social network. May actively create and participate in groups across platforms.
Entertainment and Stress Relief
Actively engages on social media platforms like YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok by posting and interacting with content.
Learning and Growth
Actively uses platforms such as Google, YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok to search for information (e.g., health information for new mothers). May stay updated with national or local news through social media or other online media.
Transactions and Financial Security
Likely a confident M-Pesa user. May use additional loan apps (e.g., Zash) alongside M-Pesa for transactions, savings, and financial tracking.
Self Promotion and Expression
May actively share and post content on platforms such as Facebook and TikTok for both business needs and personal expression.
Tracking
May use specific apps or services for financial tracking.
How do they get access to their phones?
Access to phones is often mediated through family and social networks, with devices acquired, shared, or supported through these relationships. Patterns of ownership, control, and continuity vary across geographies and reflect broader gendered and economic conditions.
Is in the Top 40% by Household Wealth Nationally
59%Partner Works in a Professional or Managerial Role
26%Has Year Long Employment or Livelihood Activity
53%
Access to Device and Consumables
May have received a phone at an early age from parents, siblings, or peers.
More likely to acquire devices through personal savings or income, rather than relying solely on husbands or male relatives.
How do they learn how to use their phones?
Women build digital capability over time through a combination of early exposure, literacy, and support from others. Facilitators, such as family members, peers, or intermediaries often play a role in shaping how skills are developed and how confidence is built.
Can Read Full Sentences
97%Cannot Read at All
1%Has Secondary and Above Education
77%
Base Capabilities
Prior digital exposure and high levels of formal education supports her ability to navigate apps like Facebook and WhatsApp through on-screen prompts. Is capable of learning more advanced uses and exploring new applications.
Learning Style
Early exposure to phones may support confident exploration. Often learns through trial and error and by observing friends or siblings. May require occasional one-off nudges to expand into more advanced use.
Learning Needs
May require occasional support for more advanced tasks, such as blocking accounts or creating media content for posting.
Facilitators
Friends and peers often support initial setup and early learning, after which she may transition to more independent use. Family members may be more involved in the early stages of device ownership.
What are the challenges they navigate?
Women navigate interruptions in access, limitations in resources, and a range of digital risks. Their use of phones is shaped by social expectations and relationship dynamics, which influence when, how, and how freely they are able to stay connected.
Has Internalised Domestic Violence
33%Participates in Household Decision Making
78%Household has Electricity
63%
Disruptions caused by Financial Shocks, Damage, Degradation and Loss
Disruptions to smartphone access can be significant given the advanced and varied nature of use. A wide social network may help mitigate disruptions, though mitigation may involve temporary use of shared devices or downgrading to a feature phone, which can still constrain use.
Managing Recurring Costs (data, airtime etc.)
Advanced use requires active data management and may result in disruptions when bundles run out. She may purchase longer-lasting bundles or rely on her social network to bridge short gaps.
Charging Cycles
May have access to electricity at home. If not, might have to charge at a neighbour’s house, charging centre or workplace, which may be be quite disruptive.
Perception of Risk
Aware of a range of digital threats and may have heard of or experienced cases of account hacking or misuse, as well as obscenity on social media.
Response to Digital Risk
May continue using digital platforms while taking precautionary steps such as blocking accounts or enabling two-step verification and password protection.