Summary
Introduction
Relies entirely on others to access and use digital tools, with little or no independent capability.
Engages with digital tools with real-time support, building basic capability through guided use.
Uses digital tools independently for a defined set of tasks, within a limited and stable repertoire.
Navigates digital tools independently across contexts, including more complex and evolving systems.
Pathways Segment
Of Reproductive Age Women
Devices
Relevance
Mobile Ownership (DHS-8 2024)
Smartphone Ownership
Uses Mobile for Financial Transactions
Any Internet Use Last Month
Functional Use
Minimal and mediated use, relying on others to operate phone or radio, with engagement limited to assisted communication and entertainment.
Entirely offline use centred on calls, with supplementary radio for information and entertainment, supporting basic communication needs.
Primarily offline use with occasional WhatsApp (e.g., voice notes), focused on entertainment and maintaining networks through stored and shared media.
Uses a limited set of data-led apps alongside offline channels, spanning personal and business needs, largely within accepted social norms.
Functional Use Deep Dive
Reach and Connection
Phone use is largely limited to making and receiving calls. She rarely operates the phone herself, with dialing and call management mostly handled by others.
Use is focused on personal communication and limited to making and receiving calls on the phone. Messaging is not operated directly, text messages are sent and read with help from others.
Use is primarily for personal communication. Uses WhatsApp to send and receive voice notes with known contacts with limited use beyond this.
Uses WhatsApp for personal as well as business communication. Connects with customers to coordinate orders and shares photos of products over WhatsApp.
Entertainment and Stress Relief
May listen to the radio when it is tuned by someone else. Engagement is entirely passive and dependent on others, with no control over content selection.
Listens to the radio on the phone for entertainment and religious sermons.
Primarily consumes media offline. Listens to music and watches movies received from computer centers, and shares media using Xender, Bluetooth, and memory cards; engagement is passive and centered on playback rather than browsing or searching.
Listens to music and watches videos, including religious sermons, across online and offline channels. Engagement on social media is largely passive, through browsing and viewing rather than active interaction.
Learning and Growth
May listen to health-related information on the radio if it is tuned by someone else. Learning appears to be entirely passive, with no control over content selection or intent to seek information.
May listen to health-related information and religious learning on the radio. Learning is passive, based on listening to broadcast content rather than seeking specific information.
Uses offline apps to learn practical skills such as cooking and stitching, and listens to health-related information on the radio. There is also some radio-based passive learning.
Uses WhatsApp groups to learn cooking and other skills aligned with expected gender roles. Learning is mostly passive, encounters content through group posts rather than actively searching for it.
Transactions and Financial Security
No independent use of digital financial services.
No independent use of digital financial services.
No independent use of digital financial services.
Uses OPAY for basic transactions like sending and receiving money. Opening or operating the account requires the husband’s permission.
Self Promotion and Expression
Limited or no engagement in self-promotion or expression.
Limited or no engagement in self-promotion or expression.
Limited or no engagement in self-promotion or expression.
May post online to promote business. Sends product photos to customers over WhatsApp. Posting does not extend to personal expression, reflecting normative caution.
Findings Across Personas
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
Many women, especially those in more vulnerable rural segments, may not have had stable landline connections at home, making them deeply appreciative of mobile phones for enabling remote communication with family and friends. This connectivity is especially vital for women who have migrated after marriage and need to navigate new social environments and stay in touch with distant family members. Husbands and fiancés, many of whom travel for work, often purchase basic phones for women to maintain contact with them.
Skills
Has Secondary and Above Education
Can Read Full Sentences
Cannot Read at All
Skills
Has no independent capability; use is fully mediated by others, with little to no opportunity for independent learning or skill development.
Has minimal literacy and no prior exposure, restricting use to basic functions; learning depends on repetition and memorisation, with ongoing support from family.
Has limited exposure and literacy, enabling basic use; learns through observation and repeated guidance, often on shared devices, with family support shaping gradual skill-building.
Has foundational literacy and prior exposure, enabling independent use and exploration; learns through demonstration and trial-and-error, seeking support for more complex tasks.
Skills Deep Dive
Base Capabilities
Lack of prior digital exposure and literacy leads to complete dependency on others for digital use.
Has no prior digital exposure and very limited literacy, even in Arabic; much of the phone’s functionality is inaccessible.
Has some prior digital exposure through someone else’s phone; limited literacy but enough for basic offline app use.
Prior digital exposure as well as literacy, supports her ability to follow on-screen prompts and try out apps like Facebook and WhatsApp. Can independently acquire and distribute media content.
Learning Style
Learning styles aren’t observed as phone use is almost entirely by proxy.
Interested in learning, but constrained by slow shared devices and lack of privacy. Learning is largely through pattern memorisation and requires repetitive teaching.
Curious and observant; learns through demonstration but may require repeated guidance. Wants to learn but may need to do it on a borrowed device, sometimes discreetly due to normative constraints. Entertainment is a key motivation.
Curious and keen to learn through trial and error; seeks help when needed and uses audiovisual content. Learns well through demonstration, without needing repeated guidance.
Learning Needs
Almost entirely dependent on someone else to make calls, recharge airtime, and manage basic phone use.
Needs to be shown how to make and receive calls. Requires ongoing support to save numbers and transfer offline content and files.
Needs help with recharging airtime. Could be taught to save contacts and share or receive files through offline channels. Lack of access to a dedicated device may slow down learning.
Likely needs help with complex tasks, like setting up mobile banking or changing language settings.
Facilitators
Children or family members carry out all actions for her, without attempting to teach.
Children and family play a major role in ongoing support; use may stall if the facilitator is unavailable.
Family members are primary facilitators. Children may facilitate offline file sharing and setup of offline apps.
Husbands and family members remain primary facilitators but they are also likely to have access to other capable facilitators who can help with account set up, and navigating social media and WhatsApp.
Findings Across Personas
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
Husbands often play a prominent facilitation role, particularly for access, setup, and ongoing use. This role is shaped by gendered norms around digital competence and household decision-making, though other family members may also support use in practice.
Safety
Safety
No meaningful awareness of digital risks.
Has minimal awareness, with a general sense of risks from others but no clear mitigation strategies.
Has limited and vague awareness; more likely to respond through self-restriction rather than active mitigation.
Has some awareness of digital risks through her network and can take basic steps to mitigate them, but may rely on self-restriction or husband-enforced limits.
Safety and Security Deep Dive
Perception of Risk
Likely has very limited awareness of digital threats.
May have a vague sense of digital threats, largely through what she has heard from others.
May have a vague sense of digital threats, largely through what she has heard from others.
Has likely heard about digital threats through her network. May be more exposed to digital safety and security threats and aware of others who have experienced these issues.
Response to Digital Risks
Likely has very limited awareness of digital threats.
Restrictions are more likely to be self-imposed since use is not actively monitored. Even on shared phones, usage may not expand.
Restrictions are more likely to be self-imposed since use is not actively monitored. Even on shared smartphones, usage may not expand.
Likely aware of basic steps to mitigate risks, often through self-restriction or usage limits enforced by her husband.
Learnings from Interactive Voice Response Survey
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
Among the 556 women in rural Northern Nigeria who responded to questions on phone safety, approximately 55% reported that the phones they used had PINs or passwords as a security measure. In this context, safety features may sometimes be set up by others on women’s behalf.
Affordability
Is in the Top 40% by Household Wealth Nationally
Has Year Long Employment or Livelihood Activity
Participates in Household Decision Making
Partner Works in a Professional or Managerial Role
Household has Electricity
Device Resourcing
Dependent on shared or gifted phones, often operated by someone else.
Relies on borrowed phones for basic needs like calling; may sometimes own a basic phone provided by her husband to stay in touch.
May receive her own phone after marriage, often shared or with
Often uses others’ phones to access functions or content her own device cannot support; may receive a phone after marriage from her husband, often shared or with lower functionality.
May receive phones before marriage from parents or suitors and is more likely to have her own device after marriage; can also navigate borrowed phones and share or source media within her network.
Discontinuities
Impact is minimal, as access is already limited and dependent on others’ devices.
Disruptions are limited, as basic functions can be maintained through shared or borrowed devices; may restrict certain features (e.g., flashlight) to conserve airtime and battery.
Disruptions mostly affect entertainment and media use; may borrow to mitigate, but has limited ability to sustain primary use cases.
Disruptions are keenly felt due to broader, more data-dependent use; may borrow to maintain basic use, but breadth and quality of use drop sharply.
Resourcing and Purchasing Deep Dive
Early Access to Device
Hardly any early access to devices.
Unlikely to have had early phone access. Husbands may provide basic phones after marriage to stay in touch; however, ownership may not be consistent.
Unlikely to have had early phone access. May receive phones from siblings or from husbands after marriage.
May have had limited early phone access, possiby by borrowing from parents or siblings. Parents may gift phones for key educational milestones. Access to devices may improve after marriage.
Current Device Access
Is more likely to depend on shared phones. Even if someone buys a phone for her or gives her a hand me down phone it is likely operated by someone else.
May have to rely on borrowed phones from close family members and friends for basic tasks like calling.
May have a basic or feature phone of her own, or share with her husband, children or co-wife when she does not have her own device.
May own a basic smartphone. Can borrow phones to meet a specific need like that of a better camera, bigger screen for watching films etc, from family and close friends.
Access to Data, Airtime and Charging
Does not require airtime to be purchased.
May not require airtime to be bought.
May require husband, suitors or other family members to provide or load media on her device.
Husbands buy data and airtime and take the device to and from charging centers. At times, adult children may also do these tasks.
Findings Across Personas
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
Women in rural NN rarely purchase phones independently. Their access to devices is more often mediated through family members, particularly husbands or adult children, and shaped by household decisions around cost, need, and perceived appropriateness of use.
Discontinuities Deep Dive
Disruptions Caused by Financial Shocks, Damage, Degradation and Loss
Disruptions have minimal impact. Access already depends on others’ phones, so disruptions do not meaningfully change her digital situation.
Disruptions occur often, but there is limited impact due to minimal use; core functions can continue through borrowed devices.
Disruptions occur fairly often but primarily affect entertainment and media consumption. The worst effects can be mitigated through borrowing phones.
When disruptions occur, they often lead to a decline in quality of use (reducing the range, frequency or independent use). Borrowing phones may mitigate the worst effects but reduces overall digital engagement.
Managing Recurring Costs (data, airtime etc.)
Use is often dependent on others’ devices and airtime recharge is not a direct challenge.
Running out of airtime further restricts already basic usage. During these periods, use is limited to functions that do not require airtime, such as radio and flashlight, resulting in narrower but continued access.
Recurring costs are largely for airtime, not data. While running out of airtime causes some disruption, it does not significantly affect offline media consumption.
Managing recurring costs such as data and airtime is a frequent source of discontinuity. Data gaps are felt when WhatsApp access is disrupted, and reliance on her husband to purchase data can prolong interruptions.
Charging Cycles
Use is often dependent on others’ devices and charging is unlikely to be a direct challenge.
Charging is less disruptive due to limited use, allowing the battery to last longer. She still manages battery life by restricting power-intensive features such as the flashlight.
Requires careful battery management, as she may depend on distant charging centers. Hand-me-down or older phones often have battery issues, making this a recurring disruption.
Charging can cause short-term but significant disruption, affecting wider digital use. While some women may have more reliable access to power at home, those who do not must closely monitor battery life.
Findings Across Personas
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
Women in rural NN are likely to face significant discontinuities in their digital journeys, which can occur frequently and last for long periods. Women’s phone use is often deprioritised relative to men’s, gaining legitimacy mainly when it supports household income or business. This reinforces gendered disparities in digital access.
In rural NN, reliance on male family members for charging may mean that disruptions are often beyond women’s control to resolve.
Learnings from Interactive Voice Response Survey
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
Among the 59 women in rural Northern Nigeria who responded to questions on mobile data use and spending, the median frequency of purchasing mobile data was once per week, at a median cost of $0.23 for 1 GB of data. In many cases, data may be purchased for women by others rather than by the women themselves.
Among the 556 women in rural Northern Nigeria who responded to questions on phone charging, approximately 46% reported charging their phones at stations outside their homes.
Among the 63 women in rural Northern Nigeria who reported using charging stations outside the home, phones were kept there for an average of 19 hours per week.
Norms
Has Internalised Domestic Violence
Impact of Control and Coercion on Digital Access and Use
Faces little normative scrutiny due to basic use and low visibility.
Faces little normative scrutiny due to basic use and low visibility.
Faces limited monitoring; restrictions are more likely to be self-imposed as use is not seen as a threat.
Has relatively more normative space to expand use, but increased visibility may bring greater scrutiny as usage grows.
Norms Deep Dive
Norms, Control and Coercion
Normative scrutiny is likely to be minimal, as digital use is very limited. Older women in these groups, especially those with little early digital exposure, may not recognise its value and may internalise and reinforce restrictive gender norms. This tendency is often stronger among more vulnerable women with limited education.
Normative scrutiny is likely to be minimal, as digital use is very limited. Older women in these groups, especially those with little early digital exposure, may not recognise its value and may internalise and reinforce restrictive gender norms. This tendency is often stronger among more vulnerable women with limited education.
She is likely to experience some normative restrictions that limit expansion of use. These may operate through physical access constraints, such as access to charging or media centers, or through requirements such as obtaining an identity number needed to unlock mobile banking. Scrutiny of her digital use remains limited, as it is not perceived as socially risky.
Earlier in life, a less restrictive environment may have enabled wider digital use. After marriage, stricter norms and scrutiny from her husband limit acceptable use. Given her prior exposure and capability, this may lead to a significant and potentially long-term halt to expanding beyond current use.
