Connected women are a catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa
Across Africa many women are driving positive change by using the Internet to solve real issues in their communities. When women are connected they have the potential to transform families and communities.
New businesses are born everyday and majority of these are getting online. Connectivity allows these businesses to gain access to new markets, opportunities for funding, access to new connections and collaborations as well as a channel to communicate to potential customers in real time.
The Internet Society run a panel session on “Connected women in Africa” at the 4th Africa Internet Summit held in Gaborone, Botswana and majority of attendees mostly women emphasized the message of drive, ambition and passion. Women are finding ways of getting solutions in the hands of those who need them regardless of poor infrastructure, lack of enough funding as well as minimal government interventions. Yes these challenges still persist but these fiery entrepreneurs will stop at nothing to innovate around the challenges.
I met Naledi Magowe an entrepreneur from Botswana who runs mAgri, a technology start-up that’s using a combination of feature phones and USSD to allow farmers to market their products and services across the country. She says of her work “This is our way of connecting the unconnected by turning dumb phones into smart phones”. While Naledi is from Botswana and I from Uganda our work is similar in so many ways. We both help bring services to small holder farmers using USSD and feature phones. Because Naledi and I are connected, we now have an opportunity to collaborate and find synergies in our work to help both of us serve our markets better.
While those who are connected reap enormous benefits, it is important to note that connection alone is not enough. There’s still need to drive capacity building and mentorship to ensure businesses online thrive. In rural areas, many women still don’t understand the benefits of putting their businesses online. They run their small businesses in the comfort of their houses and end up getting exploited by middle men who promise to sell their products for them but end up eating all their margins. These women also need access and education about the benefits of putting their products online to enable them gain powerful connections and customers.
One of the Internet Society’s mandate is to ensure that everyone has access to the Internet and that everyone has the capacity to use the Internet to thrive. Women need all the support they can get to continue this trend of entrepreneurship and Innovation. Governments also have a role to build new better policies that support online businesses to grow.
As more women embrace entrepreneurship and continue to serve their communities, more success stories as well as development will be seen throughout the continent.
