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 2024)
100%Smartphone Ownership
98%Uses Mobile for Financial Transactions
85%
Reach and Connection
Uses multiple platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok, and others to maintain both personal and professional networks. May communicate through text, voice, images, and video.
Entertainment and Stress Relief
Actively engages on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube by posting, browsing, and interacting with content.
Learning and Growth
Actively searches on platforms such as Google, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook to find specific information. May take structured online courses (e.g., Coursera) to build functional skills and uses video platforms for goal-oriented learning.
Transactions and Financial Security
Uses OPAY to track and manage financial transactions and is confident using digital payments for business-related activities.
Self Promotion and Expression
Uses platforms such as Facebook and TikTok to share photos and personal experiences. Actively curates her online presence and engages with content across platforms. Uses WhatsApp as a form of informal self-presentation or “visiting card” to access work or business opportunities.
Tracking
May use specific apps such as Flo to track reproductive health or pregnancy.
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
97%Partner Works in a Professional or Managerial Role
26%Has Year Long Employment or Livelihood Activity
83%
Access to Device and Consumables
May have shared phones with parents or siblings during childhood. May have also received her own phone from parents later on, often framed as supporting education or learning.
Women may actively purchase phones using personal savings, income, or instalment plans, with choices reflecting aspirations for particular brands or models. Almost certain to have a smartphone.
May access data independently or temporarily through borrowing, such as hotspot sharing from family, friends or extended networks. As a result, experiences of being without data may be less frequent and shorter in duration.
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
83%Cannot Read at All
3%Has Secondary and Above Education
93%
Base Capabilities
Confident in her ability to learn independently and may rarely need or seek help. Early exposure, familiarity with digital and high literacy can make many digital interactions feel intuitive.
Learning Style
Tends to learn independently through observation, experimentation, and trial and error.
Learning Needs
Generally an independent user, but may need help with more complex tasks such as setting up social media or iCloud accounts, or configuring services like OPAY as well as complex troubleshooting.
Facilitators
Likely received facilitation early in life, contributing to familiarity and confidence with digital devices. May be aware of and able to access structured digital training opportunities.
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
6%Participates in Household Decision Making
84%Household has Electricity
92%
Managing Recurring Costs (data, airtime etc.)
Managing recurring costs such as data and airtime is important, as use is more data-dependent. She may experience gaps in access, but these are often shorter or less disruptive due to relatively greater financial means and social capacity to mitigate interruptions.
Device Repair and Reliability
Likely to have more reliable devices that break down less frequently. She may also have greater capacity to repair or replace devices, resulting in shorter and less frequent gaps in access.
Perception of Risk
Aware of digital risks and may feel confident in her ability to manage them. May face a wider range of threats, including scams, privacy violations, or identity misuse, with broader and more sophisticated digital use.
Response to Digital Risk
Confidence in her ability to navigate digital risks may allow her to continue using digital spaces actively, though with caution.