Between 2017 and 2024, mobile phone ownership among women in Africa, excluding North Africa, rose steadily, but a significant gap remains between access to mobile devices and use of mobile internet.
According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s Economic Report on Africa 2026, the share of women who owned a mobile phone increased from 61% in 2017 to 70% in 2024.
Although ownership dipped slightly to 66% in 2021, it subsequently recovered, with seven in 10 women owning a mobile phone by 2024.
Mobile internet use, however, continued to trail behind phone ownership. The proportion of women using mobile internet rose from 24% in 2017 to 39% in 2024.
While adoption accelerated, particularly between 2022 and 2024, the 31-percentage-point gap between phone ownership and mobile internet use highlights the barriers that continue to prevent many women from fully accessing digital services.
