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 2023)
Smartphone Ownership
Uses Mobile for Financial Transactions
Any Internet Use Last Month
Functional Use
Minimal and mediated use, relying on borrowed phones for calls and on others for transactions, with entertainment largely social and shared.
Entirely offline use centred on calls, with reliance on others for text messages, content sharing and transactions, and supplementary radio for entertainment.
Mixed use combining WhatsApp-based communication with passive digital media, supporting entertainment, occasional learning, and limited business activity.
Intentional data-led use, including social media, across networks, livelihoods, entertainment, information, and financial transactions.
Functional Use Deep Dive
Reach and Connection
Phone use may be very limited and mediated by others, depending on access and literacy.
Use is primarily limited to making and receiving calls as needed. Text messages may be sent or read with assistance from others.
Use is largely focused on personal communication, including making and receiving calls on WhatsApp.
Uses WhatsApp to stay in touch with friends, family, or customers, communicating via text, voice or videos.
Entertainment and Stress Relief
Entertainment may occur primarily as a shared activity with others rather than through independent use.
May rely on others for offline content shared via Xender, often storing available media without actively selecting it. May also use the radio for entertainment.
May passively consume videos on TikTok or through WhatsApp forwards when data is available. May make deliberate choices about what to download when data is limited.
May use social media and watch videos for entertainment, making deliberate choices about what to stream or download. Access may be more on-demand and data-intensive, enabled through Wi-Fi or mobile data.
Learning and Growth
Digital use is not typically oriented toward learning.
Learning opportunities may be limited, with little active searching across platforms.
Learning tends to be passive and need-driven, often through TikTok or WhatsApp, with information filtered through trusted contacts or groups.
May actively use TikTok, Youtube, WhatsApp groups to search for information and news. As a self motivated learner, she may independently conduct online research for learning or practical needs.
Transactions and Financial Security
Primarily uses Wave cards to receive money and withdraws cash with assistance from others, often agents.
Relies on Wave cards or USSD to receive money. May be able to send money but often depends on others for facilitation.
Primarily uses the Wave app for sending and receiving payments.
Uses mobile money, primarily the Wave app, for sending and receiving payments. May be comfortable handling basic apps with integrated payments.
Self Promotion and Expression
Use does not typically extend to self-promotion or personal expression.
Use does not typically extend to self-promotion or personal expression.
May post infrequently but could share occasional business updates on WhatsApp.
Uses platforms such as WhatsApp Status or TikTok to promote business activities and share personal milestones.
Learnings from Interactive Voice Response Survey
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
In rural Senegal, among the 92 women involved in agriculture who responded to questions on digital benefits, 29% mentioned being able to contact people for work as a key benefit of using digital. Among the 167 women with small businesses who responded to the same, 20% reported the same.
In rural Senegal, among the 92 women involved in agriculture who responded to questions on digital benefits, 39% mentioned ease of financial transactions as a key benefit of using digital. Among the 167 women with small businesses who responded to the same, 47% reported the same.
In rural Senegal, among the 92 women involved in agriculture who responded to questions on digital benefits, 37% mentioned being able to communicate with customers and suppliers as a key benefit of using digital. Among the 167 women with small businesses who responded to the same, 38% reported the same.
Skills
Can Read Full Sentences
Cannot Read at All
No Education
Skills
Has no prior exposure; use is fully mediated by others, with limited ability to retain skills and complete dependence on facilitators for basic tasks.
Has little exposure and low literacy, limiting use; learns through repetition and memorisation, with sustained support from family and external facilitators for basic functions.
Has limited exposure and low literacy but is capable of familiar app use; learns through step-by-step guidance and practice, relying on family or shopkeepers for more complex tasks.
Has early exposure enabling independent smartphone use; learns through self-directed exploration and instruction, transferring skills across apps, with occasional one-off support.
Skills Deep Dive
Base Capabilities
No early exposure; usage is largely dependent on facilitator support.
Unlikely to have had early exposure. May rely on memorisation to navigate basic functions and depend on others for tasks beyond routine use.
Is likely to have had little early exposure and has limited literacy, but this is often sufficient for independent passive use of frequently used apps such as TikTok and WhatsApp.
Early exposure may support comfort with navigating smartphones and relative independence in managing most digital tasks.
Learning Style
Uses the phone as instructed and may struggle to retain new functions even after demonstration.
Learning tends to be needs-based and centred on basic communication and entertainment. Limited digital literacy and confidence may slow skill development, with learning occurring through repetition, memorisation, and pattern recognition. Often requires sustained and patient support.
Motivated to learn when driven by practical needs or influenced by community use. May benefit from step-by-step demonstrations of new tools and is willing to ask for help when needed.
Highly curious and motivated to explore new functions. Learning is largely self-directed, often through following instructions or experimenting independently. May quickly pick up new skills after a one-time demonstration and transfer learning across contexts and devices.
Learning Needs
Requires continuous facilitation and repeated guidance for even basic phone operations.
Requires ongoing assistance for phone setup, reading messages, saving or retrieving contacts, and accessing offline media.
May need support managing online and offline media, downloading content, installing apps such as WhatsApp and Wave and using them for business-related purposes.
Largely independent in use and may attempt to troubleshoot before seeking facilitation. May require one-time support to set up apps, email accounts, or the Google Play Store, after which she continues independently.
Facilitators
Almost entirely dependent on facilitators, typically family members or shopkeepers, particularly for receiving and withdrawing money.
Children often act as key facilitators. May also depend on external actors, such as shopkeepers, for support with mobile money transactions.
Relies on family and friends for support with more complex digital functions and may turn to external facilitators such as shopkeepers for mobile money assistance.
May occasionally seek assistance from friends or family to resolve specific issues.
Findings Across Personas
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
For women with limited literacy, voice notes, video calls, and visual cues such as emojis may offer alternatives to text-based communication, enabling basic phone use despite reading and writing barriers.
Both women and their facilitators often associate digital ability with formal education. This perception may shape how facilitators engage and how women assess their own potential, sometimes limiting what they attempt to learn.
Help-seeking is typically confined to a small circle of trusted individuals, often family members, in order to minimise perceived risk. While this can offer safety, it may also delay access to support and constrain learning opportunities when experienced facilitators outside the household are avoided.
Safety
Safety
Has vague awareness of risks and may perceive phones as morally risky, leading to avoidance.
Has vague awareness of risks and tends to self-restrict use, relying on facilitators to manage potential threats.
Aware of scams but lacks confidence to manage them; responds with cautious behaviour, avoidance, and reliance on others for guidance.
Aware of digital risks and may take steps to safeguard privacy and finances, with some confidence in managing them.
Safety and Security Deep Dive
Perception of Risk
Likely to have heard of scams from others. May associate phones with a vague sense of potential danger or moral risk.
May hold a more generalised fear of digital harm, including concerns about social scrutiny or reputational damage.
May have heard of scams but may lack the skills or confidence to identify and navigate them independently.
Aware of financial scams and reputational risks and understands that increased online visibility may heighten exposure.
Response to Digital Risks
Fear of misuse or reputational harm may lead to avoidance of digital engagement.
May limit use to essential needs and rely on facilitators when encountering potential threats.
Remains cautious and largely passive, limiting downloads to reduce exposure. May self-restrict in response to fear or uncertainty. May also seek guidance when encountering unknown or suspicious activity.
May recognise digital threats and navigate them with relative confidence, balancing engagement with discretion. May take proactive steps, such as verifying sources and blocking unknown contacts when necessary.
Findings Across Personas
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
Phones are associated with both opportunity and moral risk, shaped by community narratives about unwanted messages, privacy violations, or reputational harm. Fears are thus often shaped by norms around inappropriate exposure, such as photos or videos being shared publicly, and the potential reputational consequences that follow.
Learnings from Interactive Voice Response Survey
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
Among the 528 women in rural Senegal who responded to questions on phone security, approximately 60% reported using PINs or passwords as a security measure on their phones.
Affordability
Is in the Top 40% by Household Wealth Nationally
Has Year Long Employment or Livelihood Activity
Participates in Household Decision Making
Household has Electricity
Device Resourcing
Dependent on shared or borrowed phones, usually operated by someone else.
Access often begins in adulthood with hand-me-down feature phones that may require repairs; devices are provided for essential needs, with reliance on others for airtime.
Typically gains phone access in adulthood through gifts from family or a suitor/husband; may acquire devices gradually through saving, with limited access to shared WiFi and reliance on others for data purchases.
Likely to have early access through family; may purchase or upgrade phones over time, sometimes by exchanging older devices, and manages her own data, with occasional access to shared WiFi.
Discontinuities
Extended periods of disconnection are common and have minimal impact, as access is already limited and dependent on others.
Experiences prolonged disruptions from phone loss or damage, affecting communication and income; conserves airtime and relies on others to initiate contact.
Faces temporary disruptions that may extend due to financial constraints; mitigates through borrowing and careful management of battery and connectivity.
Disruptions when they occur, are felt acutely; responds quickly through device repairs, managing data and power and using alternatives such as WiFi where available.
Resourcing and Purchasing Deep Dive
Early Access to Device
Unlikely to have had early access to a phone.
Unlikely to have had early access to a device. Access often begins in adulthood, frequently through a husband after marriage.
May have had early access to a hand-me-down phone through family or school, but more typically gains independent access in adulthood - often when a suitor, husband, or family member purchases one to mark an occasion such as marriage.
Likely to have had early access to a phone, either shared with or given by a parent or sibling.
Current Device Access
Unlikely to own a personal device and may have to rely on shared or borrowed phones from family members or a spouse. Access may be inconsistent and shaped by sporadic borrowing.
Relies primarily on receiving hand-me-down phones from a husband or family member to meet essential needs. Access may be delayed depending on household finances or availability.
Typically has a basic smartphone, often a hand-me-down. A new device is usually acquired only out of necessity, when a previous phone is damaged or unusable, and is commonly purchased by a spouse or family member. In some cases, she may self-purchase after saving over time.
Has a smartphone and may aspire to upgrade to a newer or more advanced model, often linked to a sense of belonging or modernity. Upgrades may occur through receiving a device, purchasing one independently, or exchanging an older model.
Access to Data, Airtime and Charging
Largely dependent on others for airtime purchases.
Largely dependent on others for airtime purchases.
Often depends on others for airtime and data purchases. May have occasional access to Wi-Fi but may need to seek it out actively.
May purchase mobile data and airtime independently or rely on others. May also have relatively stable Wi-Fi access through shared networks when available.
Findings Across Personas
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
Majority of phones in rural Senegal are bought by spouses or male family members. Some may receive phones from relatives living abroad. In a few instances where women earn an income, they may purchase their own device.
Maintaining discretion in financial transactions and personal communication appears to be a key driver for phone adoption across personas.
Discontinuities Deep Dive
Disruptions Caused by Financial Shocks, Damage, Degradation and Loss
Disruptions may have less visible impact, as use is already intermittent and dependent on others. Access may remain discontinuous over time.
May experience significant and prolonged disruptions, often relying on others for basic communication during extended gaps. Replacement may be delayed for months or even years depending on household resources.
Disruptions are experienced as significant, especially when affordability is a constraint and can result in extended delays. In some cases, temporary gaps may be managed through borrowing.
Disruptions, when they occur, may be felt more acutely due to broader and more integrated use. Minor issues are often addressed relatively quickly through repair or device replacement.
Managing Recurring Costs (data, airtime etc.)
Disruption is not keenly felt as use is basic and can be supported with borrowed devices.
May be dependent on others for airtime top-ups, which can result in temporary interruptions, particularly between pay cycles. During these periods, communication is often limited to incoming calls. Giving a missed call may function as a mitigation strategy.
Actively manages data use and may have occasional access to shared Wi-Fi. Data depletion can cause short but frequent disruptions to communication and learning. These interruptions may extend when she depends on others to purchase data.
Having access to Wi-Fi makes data disruptions less of a concern. But when data depletions can affect use, usage is planned carefully and alternate options are actively used to manage depletion, resulting in shorter disruptions. May be dependent on others for recharging, which can result in temporary interruptions.
Charging Cycles
Challenges with charging may exist but do not result in significant disruption as use is minimal and can also be managed with borrowed devices.
Is likely to have access to electricity at home, though recurring short interruptions may occur due to outages or battery degradation associated with second-hand devices. May manage usage carefully during these periods.
Is likely to have access to electricity at home, though recurring short interruptions may occur due to outages or battery degradation associated with second-hand devices. May manage usage carefully during these periods.
Is very likely to have access to electricity at home. During outages, interruptions may be minimal, as she adapts by charging at nearby centres or using backup sources.
Findings Across Personas
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
Women’s phone use is sometimes perceived as less essential than men’s. Devices may function as shared household resources, resulting in temporary interruptions when used by children and longer interruptions when men’s digital needs take precedence. While social norms shape behaviour, their practical impact often depends on how husbands interpret and enforce them, leading women to negotiate autonomy within evolving boundaries.
Borrowing phones to mitigate disruptions may be constrained by privacy concerns, reducing willingness to both lend and borrow devices.
In rural areas, less vulnerable women may use Wi-Fi strategically to manage connectivity costs — reserving mobile credit for essential calls while relying on Wi-Fi for data-heavy activities such as video streaming or app use. Some may also time usage around discounted or off-peak rates to extend limited resources.
Learnings from Interactive Voice Response Survey
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
Among the 80 women in rural Senegal who responded to questions on mobile data use and spending, the median frequency was once per month, at a median cost of $3.30 for 5 GB of data, which may suggest relatively infrequent, higher-value data recharges.
Among the 783 women in rural Senegal who responded to questions on phone charging, approximately 42% reported charging their phones at stations outside their homes.
Among the 90 women in rural Senegal who reported using charging stations outside the home, phones were kept there for an average of 14 hours per week.
Norms
Has Internalised Domestic Violence
Impact of Control and Coercion on Digital Access and Use
Faces limited scrutiny due to use being restricted to essential functions.
Faces limited scrutiny due to use being restricted to essential functions.
Self-restricts in response to normative expectations, with disruptions occurring when activities (especially entertainment) conflict with household responsibilities.
Faces limited normative restrictions and may incorporate advice without coercion; occasional disruptions may arise from social expectations around propriety.
Norms Deep Dive
Norms, Control and Coercion
Very limited use may not attract significant normative attention.
Limited normative scrutiny where use is confined to essential communication or livelihood needs.
May experience more direct normative expectations, leading to self-limiting behaviours around phone use. Digital activity may remain passive and aligned with what is considered socially acceptable.
May experience normative advice rather than direct coercion and may feel confident and capable to negotiate acceptable boundaries. Rare disruptions linked to norms may arise from social scrutiny or gossip.
Findings Across Personas
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
Phone use may be deprioritised when it is perceived to conflict with household roles or responsibilities.
Learnings from Interactive Voice Response Survey
Guided Foundational,
Independent Intermediate,
Independent Advanced
Among the 783 women in rural Senegal who responded to questions on phone monitoring, approximately 30% reported that their phones were checked by family members.
Among the 232 women in rural Senegal who reported that their phones were checked, 67% indicated that this checking was done by spouses or partners.
Among the 485 women in rural Senegal who responded to questions on community perceptions, 67% reported that phones are perceived by community members as a distraction for women from their obligations.
Among the 487 women in rural Senegal who responded to questions on acceptable phone use, 90% expressed that women should restrict their activities on social media to what is considered normatively acceptable.
