Across Africa, women are lifting themselves through digital platforms
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
“Social media is where I eat. I depend on social media for my livelihood,” said Ogechi Egemonu when she lamented the Twitter ban in Nigeria on 4 June 2021.
She was selling more than $1,219 (N500,000 – at the then naira/dollar rate) worth of watches, shoes, and handbags on Twitter per week before the ban.
NetBlocks, a global internet monitor, calculated that Nigeria was losing $250,000 each hour ($6 million each day) the ban was in place. It was lifted on 12 January 2022. That means Nigeria lost $1.332 trillion in the 222 days of the ban.
And Twitter is just one means. It simply shows that digital platforms are valuable.
Men and women sell goods and services online. But the focus here is on women unleashing their huge potential on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, and other digitals to get by, and get away from the hardscrabble life.
Women do not just sell wares online.
Female Uber and Bolt taxi drivers in Lagos make between N50,000 and N70,000 a week using those ride-hailing apps to get passengers without having to compete with male taxi drivers physically.
It is the same story of digital transformation of the female economy across Africa, despite weak internet and mobile phone infrastructure, and low digital uptake among the 1.216 billion population. And despite the risk in some digital gigs.
Below is the story samples taken from Kenya across to Nigeria and Ghana as published by the BBC.
Income boost
The BBC profiles three African women – a former shop owner, a teacher and a taxi driver – who have boosted their income since they embraced digital platforms.
The coronavirus pandemic forced many people to rethink how they earn a living.
Independent research group Caribou Digital has found that women in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana are benefitting from the digital economy’s low barrier to entry and flexibility – which allows them to earn their own money while maintaining childcare duties.
Sharon Tarit
Tarit did not expect to double her income in nine months.
The Covid pandemic had forced the closure of her baby clothes shop in Eldoret in western Kenya, and subletting properties through online platforms like Airbnb seemed like a handy stop-gap measure.
But Tarit, 29, is now among a growing number of African women finding new careers using platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and ride-hailing apps like Uber and Bolt.
She launched her business with one property nine months ago and now has seven – taking on long-term rent agreements and subletting on Airbnb.
“I’m making much more money than the business I had before the pandemic,” Tarit told BBC Business Daily.
People who use her business are mostly tourists booking holiday accommodation and business people who would rather stay in an Airbnb than a hotel.
“During Covid a lot of my friends lost their jobs and started using digital platforms to earn money. Now they are selling groceries online and working as delivery drivers,” Tarit said.
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Josephine Adzogble
A normal day for Adzogble, 32, starts by posting adverts for products on WhatsApp and Facebook from her home in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
She is taking advantage of one of the biggest shifts in the African economy – the rise of online market places.
She sells mobile phones, air-conditioning units and televisions by advertising and posting on groups she has made on WhatsApp and Facebook, as well as existing ones such as her church group.
Adzogble gave up a job teaching French to concentrate on her online business.
“It pays better than teaching. I can sell one item and earn more than a month teaching. I am a mother. I need to give my children the best education possible and they motivate me to get my financial independence,” she said.
For Adzogble, building strong relationships with customers is key to making money online.
“That way they will buy from you and give a good review.”
Ayobami Lawal
Lawal, 34, works for ride-hailing firms Uber and Bolt in Nigeria’s main city, Lagos.
However, it has not been easy – the single mum of four said some men refuse to be driven by a woman.
“When I started driving taxis in Lagos all the men cancelled their trips when I arrived to pick them up,” Lawal said.
“Lagos is a bit rough and you have to be very strong to drive around the town. Men don’t think I have the strength. I have to convince them to get in the car.”
The study by Caribou Digital also found that many women using digital platforms to earn a living worry about their safety.
“A lot of the women we spoke to said they have been sexually harassed when picking up rides,” lead researcher Grace Natabaalo told the BBC.
“While governments encourage young women to take up this work they need to recognise the other side – that there are dangers and they should be taken seriously by the police and government departments,” she said.
But Lawal said the positives outweigh the negatives.
“It’s important to earn a living for yourself but also I want to contribute to the wider economy by paying taxes. I want to grow myself and Nigeria’s economy,” she said.