Nigeria’s Digital Economy Leaves Women Facing Access Barriers

Nigeria’s digital economy is expanding, but women face barriers that extend beyond owning a mobile phone. A Vanguard report describes how device prices, data costs and limited practical skills restrict independent access to online services.

The report cites the 2025 GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report: 91 percent of adult women in Nigeria owned a mobile phone. Only 47 percent owned an internet-enabled phone, while 35 percent used mobile internet, compared with 52 percent of men.

Nigeria’s Digital Economy Requires More Than Phones

At a business centre in Aba, Abia State, Mrs Abigail Maduka sees women seeking help with transactions their smartphones could handle. Some ask her to recharge electricity because they do not know they can download an app.

Maduka said women sometimes call her at night for that assistance. Her account in Vanguard’s digital access report distinguishes phone ownership from the ability to use online services independently.

Sarah Nwokeoma, not her real name, described similar difficulties among older women working in rural schools. The senior staff member works at the Secondary Education Management Board, Aba Zonal office.

Nwokeoma said some women rely on others for basic digital tasks and pay for that help. Some travel from villages to cities to receive information already shared through digital platforms or email.

Data Costs Keep Women Offline

Mrs Bukola Olawale, secretary of women fellowship in a Methodist Church in Nigeria, described another obstacle: limited finances. Some members lack Android phones, preventing them from accessing messages shared on the fellowship’s digital platform.

Olawale sends important information by SMS to those members. Even some smartphone owners remain offline because they cannot afford data, she said.

The report identifies affordability and digital skills as barriers highlighted by the World Bank and GSMA. GSMA’s 2025 report found women in low- and middle-income countries were 14 percent less likely than men to use mobile internet.

Vanguard also cites the National Bureau of Statistics’ General Household Survey Panel Wave 5, conducted in 2023/24. Internet access reached 37.8 percent for urban females, compared with 14.8 percent for rural females.

That survey found mobile-phone access of 66.0 percent for males and 66.8 percent for females. Internet access was lower, at 21.6 percent for males and 21.1 percent for females.

Finance And Identity Add Further Hurdles

The report connects digital access with financial inclusion, drawing on EFInA’s Women’s Economic Empowerment analysis. It describes persistent gender disparities and women’s continued reliance on informal financial services.

EFInA warned that digital financial products may fail to close gaps unless designed around excluded women’s circumstances. Smartphones, data, identity verification and confidence navigating applications can all affect access.

Related Her Forward reporting examines women entrepreneurs’ financing barriers, Uganda’s business grants and Canada’s business support funding. Those articles address other settings for women’s access to business resources.

Nigeria’s digital economy increasingly requires identity verification for banking, telecommunications and government services, Vanguard reports. Women lacking documentation or struggling to reconcile records can encounter another hurdle.

Preparing Girls To Create Technology

At the 13th Girls in ICT Day celebration in Lagos, Mrs Ufuoma Emuophedaro urged girls to create technology. The Convener and CEO of eBusiness Life Communication Limited said using technology alone was insufficient.

Bisola Oladejo, Head, Cybersecurity and Compliance Advisory, Digital Encode, identified limited STEM education, internet access, funding and cyberbullying as barriers. She called for deliberate government initiatives and stronger partnerships with NGOs and the private sector.