According to the State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023, which was released on Tuesday, April 18, Kenyan women have the highest number of mobile money account ownership.
Kenya led a global survey of nine countries, including Ghana, Indonesia, India, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Senegal.
Due to living in urban areas, Kenyan women recorded the highest number compared to their counterparts in other countries, according to the report.
“Women, who live in rural areas tend to experience the barriers to mobile money account ownership more acutely than their urban counterparts, including lower awareness, lack of a mobile phone, lower digital skills and more restrictive social norm,” read part of the report.
According to the report, 92% of Kenyan women had a mobile money account, compared to 4% in Pakistan and India.
Kenya had the smallest gender gap, at 2%, compared to Pakistan, which had an 85% gap.
According to the report, the large gap between Pakistan and India was caused by a variety of factors, including social norms and low female mobile ownership.
It was stated that Kenyan women, particularly farmers, were able to obtain insurance after being denied access to alternative sources of funding.
Furthermore, Kenyan women were more aware of mobile money than their counterparts in India and Ethiopia.
“When women are aware of mobile money, barriers other than the lack of a mobile phone have created a relatively wide gender gap in mobile money account ownership (except in Kenya),” read the report in parts.
Meanwhile, while men and women use mobile money accounts at similar rates in the first 30 days, the gap widens with increased frequency.
Women were identified as using mobile money to send and receive domestic and international remittance payments.
According to the report, if no action is taken, women’s mobile ownership will continue to lag, preventing them from progressing along the mobile money user journey.
