Mozambique’s Women Entrepreneur Digital Readiness Survey 2021

Lioness Data

Mozambique’s Women Entrepreneur

Digital Readiness Preparing for a new digital reality | 2021 Pulse Survey Report

Table of Contents

01

Report

Summary

What is digital readiness?

Foreword by Melanie Haw en he future is digital Is your business ready?

Analysis by inda uze, h D Mozambican women entrepreneur usage and challenges relating to digital s ills op-level ndings Digital Readiness of women entrepreneurs in Mozambique k

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Digital Readiness: The Context

Why it matters to women entrepreneurs more than ever?

Women entrepreneurs and the Mozambique economy Building business resilience through COVID-19 and beyond Rationale for the survey

04

Case

Studies

How have women entrepreneurs in Mozambique used digital technology during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Nilsa Ribeiro - Founder, OWNit Dance Studio

Mirna Biosse - estilista da marca Miss Bi

Annette Cassy - Kidz Kare Centro Médico Infanto-Juvenil

Ana Gonçalves – Magambi

Yara Ribeiro - Smart Casual

05 About Lioness Data + 06 Acknowledgements Conclusion + Recommendations

Survey

Results

About the women entrepreneurs Measuring 6 dimensions of Digital Readiness Digital strateg Digitally enabled business operation Digital ban ing and nance Digital mar eting and sale Cybersecurity and data protectio Digital infrastructure access k

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01.

Report Summary 3

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What is digital readiness?

Digital Readiness is a measure of how prepared people and businesses are to adopt new processes, software and technology in order to begin the process of ‘going digital’ or enabling ‘digital transformation’. For the woman entrepreneur, this means preparing her business and her employees to transition to digitized workflows enabled by technology and software. The end goal is to build streamlined, digitally enabled business operations, fast and effective online financial transactions, and effective digital channels to reach and serve her customers.

Covid-19 has transformed the business landscape forever. In order to survive and thrive, women entrepreneurs have overnight had to ramp up their adoption of digital technologies. Once a ‘nice to have’, today women see digital transformation as vital to their business survival, future resilience, and a means to disruption-proof their businesses.

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Foreword

The future is digital.

Is your business ready?

The need for digital transformation to achieve real business growth has been acknowledged by successful women entrepreneurs across the African continent for the past few years. But in practice, it has remained an aspiration for many women business owners in Mozambique - until the COVID-19 pandemic struck. It proved a wake-up call to speed up digital transformation in order to survive. Women entrepreneurs have now been forced to rethink their business models, to get more innovative, to improve digital readiness in response to this changed business environment. But are they moving fast enough?

Mozambique’s women entrepreneurs are now seeing that in order to stay competitive, they have to embrace this new, digitally driven market reality - or risk getting left behind.

They are seeing that digital transformation is not simply an investment in new technology in their business. Instead, it’s a new way of thinking and doing things differently, a way of communicating and connecting with customers through the power of digital storytelling, or the use of e-commerce to make those sales, or to enable remote working.

The pandemic has shown us that the future of business is digital - the question is, are the women entrepreneurs of Mozambique ready? Our survey suggests they are moving in the right direction. But there is much more to be done if they are to truly capitalize on this new digital business reality, and not just survive, but thrive.

“

Melanie Hawken

Founder & CEO Lionesses of Africa

Our survey of 227 women entrepreneurs from the Lionesses of Africa network in Mozambique has revealed the importance of digital transformation to build resilience in the time of COVID-19.

Mozambique Women Entrepreneur Digital Readiness Survey Report | Page52

Analysis

Mozambican women entrepreneur usage

and challenges relating to digital skills The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt by women everywhere. Many of the industries that were worst hit by government lockdowns (such as retail, tourism, entertainment, food services and accommodation) employ more women than men. When companies scale back or close their doors, it is often female employees who are hit the hardest, especially if they have low-paid jobs and live in places where there are no social safety net programmes.

Women must also contend with a greater level of unpaid childcare and domestic work during this crisis.

Female-owned enterprises in Africa already find it more difficult than male-owned to raise capital and manage risk and yet, women in sub-Saharan Africa have some of the highest rates of entrepreneurship activity globally. The last year has threatened to slow or even reverse some of these impressive gains. Fortunately, the news is not all bad. The pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities that are specific to women, prompting conversations about how to build greater resilience so that women-led businesses survive this season and thrive going forward.

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Linda Zuze, Ph.D.

Research Director, Lioness Data, Lionesses of Africa

This research was designed to understand what value digital resources add to women-led businesses in Mozambique and how technology is being used to adapt to current conditions. It consisted of an online survey that covered six dimensions of digital readiness and in-depth interviews with 21 business owners. The interviews provided further details about the types of digital tools that are being used for business, the challenges that women face working with digital technology, views about digital financial services and plans to become more digital in the future.

The results indicate that while participants reflect the diverse and dynamic entrepreneurial climate of the country, all agree that growing digitally can protect revenues and grow sales, especially during periods of uncertainty. Some of the women we spoke to already had a digital strategy in place prior to the pandemic but many became more digital as a response to the economic impact of COVID-19. Making changes has not been easy. Clearly more needs to be done to improve accessibility. However, the majority recognise that growing digitally can introduce greater flexibility and convenience to their operations. For women business owners in Mozambique, being digitally prepared means that they can respond to the unexpected both quickly and creatively.

Women recognize that growing digitally can protect revenues and grow sales, especially during seasons of uncertainty.

Mozambique Women Entrepreneur Digital Readiness Survey Report | Page62

Top-level Findings Confidence in digital capabilities is lacking

Fewer than 1 in 5 respondents rate their business’s digital capabilities as strong.

19% of respondents rate their business’s current digital capabilities as either 'strong' or 'very strong’. 44% rate their capabilities as average, and 37% rate their capabilities as poor or very poor.

External digital advice helps those that get it Respondents who received external advice are 3 times more likely to feel confident in their company’s digital abilities.

Top-level Findings

Digital Readiness of women entrepreneurs in Mozambique

In the past 12 months 38% of respondents indicate they have received advice on improving their business’s digital capabilities. The women who received advice went on to rate their digital capabilities as either 'strong' or 'very strong’ 38% of the time. By comparison, those women who received no external digital advice rated their capabilities as either 'strong' or 'very strong’ only 11% of the time, clearly highlighting the benefit of external digital advice and support for women entrepreneurs.

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Social media is the most common digital entry point

Nearly half of respondents use social media to promote their businesses and to connect with customers.

There are some striking differences in what digital tools respondents use for their business operations. Social media, accounting and communication tools outpace human resource, point of sale and project management solutions. However, social media are by far the most widely used digital tools with 46% of respondents using these channels in their businesses. In fact, findings suggest that for many respondents social media appears to replace their need for or lack of a website.

Use of websites is low

A little over a third of respondents have a dedicated business website.

35% of respondents have a business website. 87% of these businesses use their website primarily as a tool to promote their goods and services and inform customers without having e-commerce functionality built in.

Facebook is the most popular social media platform

Facebook and the apps it owns (Instagram and WhatsApp) were overwhelmingly

identified as the most popular social media platforms.

Digital financial services are widely used

Close to 3 in 4 respondents use digital financial services for their business.

73% of respondents state they use digital financial services for their business. Internet banking is the most widely used digital financial service. Of those who use digital financial services, 83% of them receive payments from their clients online. On the whole, digital financial services are viewed very favourably with 82% of respondents happy with the services on offer.

63% of women entrepreneurs use Facebook for their business; 62% use Instagram for their business; 44% use WhatsApp for their business; and 36% make use of WhatsApp Business. This would suggest that Facebook-owned apps are possibly replacing the need for, or lack of, a business website and providing an entry point for a form of e-commerce.

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Remote work capabilities are poor

The vast majority of respondents lack the digital tools required to support remote work.

Only 28% of respondents make use of digital team messaging, communication and collaboration tools in their business. Similarly, only 26% of respondents make use of video conferencing, and likewise only 26% make use of digital file storage and sharing. Even lower, at 10%, are the percentage of respondents who make use of online staff training tools. Overall this would signify a lack of capability on the part of women entrepreneur respondents to support remote work and the new world of work.

E-commerce usage is low

Only a small percentage of respondents use E-commerce.

Of the 35% of respondents who have a business website only 22% have a system of E-commerce on their own website that allows customers to order goods and services and pay directly. 11% of respondents with a business website allow customers to place orders or make bookings through their own website without taking online payment.

Cybersecurity and data protection is being neglected

Internet security is not common with 4 out of 5 respondents not using any Internet

security system or software.

80% of women entrepreneur respondents state they do not have any Internet security system or software.

Barriers to digital technology

Problems with digital services are primarily infrastructure related.

Problems with accessing digital services are primarily infrastructure related: poor wifi, slow download speeds and power outages. The cost of data bundles is also identified as a barrier by a third of respondents. 1 in 10 respondents identified service problems with their ISP as a problem.

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02.

Digital Readiness:

The Context 10

Digital Readiness: Why it matters to women entrepreneurs more than ever In 2020, Mozambique recorded its first economic contraction in 28 years. The COVID-19 pandemic led to restrictions on movement and business activities effectively ground to a halt for several months.

The pandemic has affected businesses in all sectors and of all sizes.

Companies with an international footprint have seen global demand rapidly decline. Border closures have made it more difficult to purchase raw materials from countries like South Africa.

For local business owners, demand fell as clients who lost their jobs could no longer afford their products and services.

In order to grow and thrive, Mozambique’s women entrepreneurs need to confidently use digital technology, trade online and increase their revenues in both the local and international markets.

The economy has slowly started to revive, but by all indications women entrepreneurs in Mozambique have experienced serious setbacks.

1. FMT & FSDMOÇ 2020. Mozambique Finscope Consumer Survey Report. Maputo: FinMark Trust and FSD Mozambique.

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Women Entrepreneurs and the Mozambique Economy Female-led businesses in Mozambique tend to be small and informal but there is growing recognition that these ventures are key to boosting growth and supporting job creation.

One in five (20%) women in Mozambique is self-employed but very few have access to regulated savings (3%), credit (5%) or insurance (9%) facilities.

Increasing opportunities for women entrepreneurs requires improving access to funding, training and markets. Importantly, it is also vital that women gain better access to the digital economy.

Mozambique Women Entrepreneur Digital Readiness Survey Report | Page 122

Building Business Resilience through COVID-19 and beyond

75 percent of people using digital channels for the first time indicate that they will continue to use them when things return to “normal”.* *McKinsey COVID-19 US Digital Sentiment Survey, April 2020

Building more sustainable business models in the future will involve improving business management skills, strengthening access to new and existing markets and diversifying product and supplier networks

Digital approaches are a common thread that tie together all types of recovery activities

Virtual office arrangements for remote working and managing client relations

Mobile and cashless payment systems to reduce the time and cost of transactions

Online marketing and sales to access untapped markets

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Rationale for the survey

Women-led businesses in Mozambique are a growing economic force. Appropriate and affordable digital solutions can significantly improve their business performance, in turn increasing their contribution to the national economy and job creation.

This study aims to: Assess the digital readiness of women-led businesses in Mozambique

Understand the impact of digital transformation on supporting growth in women-led businesses

Understand the challenges and opportunities that women entrepreneurs face when it comes to increasing their digital capabilities

Provide recommendations to strengthen women’s participation in the digital economy

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03.

Survey Results 15

About the Survey

Digitally enabled business operations

Digital strategy

Pulse survey was conducted between 30 March to 9 April 2021 227 women entrepreneurs responded online 20 women entrepreneurs were interviewed via Zoom Responses were received from 4 provinces: Maputo Cidade, Maputo Province, Sofala, Cabo Delgado Majority of respondents operate in Maputo Cidade (73%) and Maputo Province (23%)

Digital infrastructure

Measuring

6 dimensions

of digital readiness

Digital banking and finance

Survey featured 17 questions assessing 6 dimensions of Digital Readiness (see diagram alongside) Survey was completed online with 120 responses submitted via computer and 107 responses submitted via smartphone Survey was made available in both Portuguese (183) and English (44)

Cybersecurity

and Data Protection

Digital marketing and sales

Average time taken to complete the survey was 06m26s

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Question

What was the average value of total sales per month (in Metical) of your business in 2020?

50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Less than 5,0015,000 MT 25,000 MT

Half of businesses employ between 1 and 10 people

One-third are solo entrepreneurs

Six out of ten are running a business that has been trading for three years or less

25%

23% 17%

New entrepreneurs are entering into business

12%

25,00150,000 MT

14% 9% 50,001- More than Declined 100,000 100,000 to provide MT MT

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Question

Question

What was the average value of total sales per month (in Metical) of your business in 2020?

How many paid employees (full and part-time) does your business currently employ across all sites, excluding owners and partners?

18% 16% 16% 15% 15% 14% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 6% 4% 2% 0%

60% 15%

50% 40%

8%

52% 35%

30%

8%

20% 3%

2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years 6 to 10 11 to 20 More less 1 year than 1 years years than 20 year years

9%

10% 0%

none

1-10

11-50

1% 51-100

3% 101 or more 18

Question

very poo r 18 %

aver age 44%

Digital Digital

Strategy Strategy

ver ys tro ng 4%

strong 15%

How do you rate your business’s current digital capabilities?

poor 19 %

Only 19% of businesses rate their digital capabilities as either 'strong' or 'very strong’

Larger businesses - based on number of employees - rate their digital capabilities more favourably than smaller ones

19

Question In the past 12 months have you received advice on improving your business’s digital capabilities?

38% yes

62% no

38% Among business owners who received advice on improving their business's digital capabilities, 38% rated their digital capabilities as either 'strong' or 'very strong'.

11% Among those who did not receive advice, 11% rated their capabilities as either 'strong' or 'very strong'.

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Question Does your business use digital software, tools or apps to manage any of the following?

Social media

Digitally enabled business operations

46%

Accounting and tax

30%

Message and collaboration

28%

Video conferencing

26%

Email marketing

26%

File storage and sharing

26%

None

20% 19%

HR and Payroll

18%

Point of sales

15%

Customer relations

14%

Project management Website building

13% 10%

Online staff training Survey

9%

Inventory

9%

Other

0% 0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

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“I feel like everyone is doing the same thing and it’s difficult for my business to stand out on social media.”

“Before we upgraded our data package, in the middle of the meeting, the data would finish.”

“Well, honestly speaking, I'm not very good with digital tools.”

Getting digitally ready.

The challenges women entrepreneurs face.

Here is what some women had to say, when they were asked to describe what made it hard to grow their businesses digitally.

“I wish I could just go to a place for a website that I know I can trust.”

“I think people need to be educated in some way about digital.”

“Outsourcing digital marketing means that you have to pay a fee.”

“I don't know exactly how to create content and I don’t have the time.”

“We're highly dependent on the technology and then on the Internet and on electricity but in a country you're not secure that you'll have them all the time.”

“In Mozambique, we have difficulty finding experienced IT support that can resolve a problem immediately.”

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Question In what ways do you use digital financial services for your business?

90%

83%

80% 70%

63%

60% 50%

46%

40%

Digital Banking and Finance

30%

27% 20%

20% 10% 0%

12% 4% none of the above

buying airtime

paying withdrawing paying insurance money salaries

paying bills

receiving payments from clients 23

77% 73% 83%

Use digital financial services for business

Internet banking is the most widely used digital financial service

Receive payments from clients online

Digital financial services are viewed very favourably, 82% of respondents are happy with the services on offer

Ease of use and flexibility are the most important features of digital banking for these businesses

Only 8% of business owners rank the security benefits of digital banking as its most important advantage

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Question Which of these social media platforms does your business use (not you personally)?

Digital Marketing and Sales

Facebook Instagram WhatsApp Whatsapp Business LinkedIn Twitter YouTube Blogging Platform Pinterest TikTok

63% 62% 44% 36% 26% 10% 9% 5% 4% 2% 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

25

35%

Question

How do you currently use your website for your business?

Of respondents have a business website

Promote Goods and services

87%

Ecommerce

1/5

Only one in five of those websites have e-commerce functionality

22%

11%

Take bookings no payments 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90% 100%

26

Question Does your business have any internet security systems or software?

Cybersecurity and Data Protection

Yes – 20%

No – 80%

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Question Do any of the following cause problems for your business?

40% 35%

33%

30%

Access to Digital Infrastructure

25% 20%

19%

20%

20%

21%

15% 10%

7%

10%

10%

5% 0%

Broadband No internet Problems is poor in the area dealing with ISP

WiFi is poor

Loss of internet

Power Slow download outages speeds

Cost of data bundles

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04.

Case Studies How have women entrepreneurs

in Mozambique used digital technology during the COVID-19 pandemic?

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Nilsa Ribeiro

Co-Founder, OWNit Dance Studio OWNit is a dance studio that focuses on empowering women through dance. The pandemic prevented large group meetings, including in-person dance classes. Nilsa Ribeiro’s response was to introduce private in-person dance classes, with one instructor and one student (OWNit Secret).

Nilsa has also launched online classes with internationally acclaimed dancers (LIVE Session) along with a series of dance videos called Better Together, where she stresses the power of women supporting each other during this period. Soon, she is planning to launch a podcast series to cover issues that were routinely covered during the studio classes, such as self-esteem, gender-based violence, cancer awareness, and other issues that affect women.

“

Nilsa relies on social media more and more because of pandemic restrictions. She has increased her use of YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp Business, Facebook, and a company website. Nilsa discovered that the community’s reaction to a digital approach can be mixed. It has been difficult to replicate the energy and intimacy of the dance studio with online classes.

Our dance studio is a safe space where women share their energy and connect with other women. Dance is just a tool that we use to share that energy. Connectivity problems are an ongoing challenge for some clients. I have been doing everything I needed to do, to continue with my business during this pandemic. Although with less income.

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Mirna Biosse

estilista da marca Miss Bi Travelling to nearby South Africa to purchase clothing is no longer possible for many Mozambican women. For stylist Mirna Biosse, lockdown offered an opportunity to introduce a line of casual clothing for the local market. Mirna focused on marketing her clothing line through social media. Digital marketing generated interest in the local media and led to publicity for her brand. Mirna still relies heavily on word of mouth referrals for new customers.

“

It was difficult, at first, to convince local consumers that the quality of a local brand can be on par with larger international ones but attitudes are slowly changing. More and more women are discovering the versatility and convenience of her casual range. Mirna has partnered with a local retail outlet to distribute her clothing. She is eager to learn how to maximise the potential of social media to grow her business “…so that it can be effective and reach the right people.”

“I am in the process of rebuilding my Instagram account and presence to create more of a professional look and to really get a sense of what my clients would experience coming to my shop, which now they are not doing. I am also restructuring my business to meet the demand for comfortable stay-at-home clothes.”

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Kidz Kare was already using technology in innovative ways before the pandemic.

For example, parents could make appointments on the company website. Annette had also developed a medical app where parents could track their children’s growth and vaccine schedule. The app provides families with advice in the event of emergencies at home. Annette regularly uses digital toys and games to reduce the stress on children when they are getting injections.

During lock down, Annette and her team used Skype and WhatsApp for consultations wherever possible, but her digital innovations did not end there.

Annette developed a cartoon video for children to teach them about Covid in an accessible way. She observes: “many parents were grateful because it was a good way to explain to children what COVID-19 was and why they couldn’t go to school.” In the future, Annette would like to make more animated videos to improve awareness about other diseases.

“

“I really want people to use software so that we can have all the information in the Cloud so I can access it when I am home. I can do video calls, video consultations with my patients, and have access to everything remotely that I would have access to if I was at the clinic.”

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Magambi provides services to families during pregnancy, labour and post-partum. Traditionally, Ana has used email to communicate with her clients, but during lockdown she utilized video and WhatsApp to a greater extent. As a result of this digital migration, she is now planning to change to WhatsApp Business, and is redefining the structure of her website to use as a more effective marketing and communications tool.

Another operational digital shift during the lockdown came with the move to using Zoom to run training classes which would normally have been run in-person. Going forward, this move to digital courses could open up another revenue stream, complementing the existing in-person classes when they resume.

Ana also introduced a new supplementary revenue stream in the business through the sale of baby wraps for new-borns. She uses Facebook and Instagram to market these products and she plans to design and market additional baby products in the future. She has also adopted the use of mobile payment systems such as MPESA to provide customers buying these products with the ability to transact and pay quickly and hassle-free.

“

“I'm planning to use more WhatsApp Business. And then I'm starting to define the structure of my website. That has been the main challenge because I need some time to think about what I want to communicate and the information I want to include. That's something that I cannot delegate to others. I hope most of the content and the structure will be ready soon.”

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Team management and logistics are complex at the best of times. When remote working and social distancing are factored into the equation, then the complexity

is multiplied many times over. Yara introduced Team Time, team building adapted to the online concept. It is a fun and secure tool for teams to talk about difficult subjects, improve time management, and work towards agreed goals. Yara and Erica created this online dynamic as a response to COVID and with human resource specialists from Mozambique, Portugal and Brazil specializing in team building for the creation of personalized content for each company.

“

Yara believes that building bridges of communication in the workplace is critical in the current climate. “… we just need to share more stories of people that reinvent themselves and reinvent their businesses. People can get a bit more inspired and believe a bit more in what they can do.” In the future, they plan to export Team Time to businesses in other countries.

“We need to share more of those stories of people who just reinvent

themselves in business. Reinvent their businesses. So people can get a bit more inspired and believe a bit more in what they can do.”

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05.

Conclusion +

Recommendations 35

Conclusion Women entrepreneurs understand the connection between growing digitally and building resilience, and many women have found ways to innovate during the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn.

Women-owned businesses do not engage with digital tools in the same way. They are looking for digital solutions that are appropriate for their businesses and accessible to their customers.

Women entrepreneurs are missing out by not having their own business website as it is an important piece of building out an e-commerce strategy to reach new customers and markets.

Access to external digital advice, training and support for women entrepreneurs is shown to build confidence in their digital transformation journey.

Women entrepreneurs are lagging behind in their adoption of Cybersecurity and data protection tools.

Addressing the barriers to using more digital tools faced by women entrepreneurs may offer new opportunities to increase their contribution to Mozambique’s economy.

Mozambique Women Entrepreneur Digital Readiness Survey Report | Page 362

Recommendations Based on the insights of our 247 respondents, here’s how women entrepreneurs, business and industry, startup ecosystem influencers, and policy-makers can rethink their approaches, reconfigure business models, and seize opportunities opened to them by the digital economy.

For women entrepreneurs

The future is digital. To ensure your company is ready you need to: 1. Get strategic — Develop a digital strategy that addresses three components of your company: culture, processes and technology.

2. Educate yourself — Digital readiness begins at the personal level, so keep growing your personal skills and knowledge to understand how to use digital technology better.

3. Invest — To boost your company’s performance and sustain your resilience you’ll need to make an investment in your employee skills, IT infrastructure and software applications.

4. Improve your digital marketing and communications - Enhance your online brand presence, create a website with e-commerce functionality, fully utilize all your social media platforms, and develop your digital marketing strategy.

Mozambique Women Entrepreneur Digital Readiness Survey Report | Page 372

5. Get employee buy-in — You need to ensure your employees feel comfortable in this new digital environment. Build the digital culture of your company by supporting employees to learn and adapt to their new world of work.

10. Make your data accessible — To support the move to remote working provide ease of access to your data by your employees in a secure way. After all, data is useless if it is not used.

6. Improve your business processes — Use digital to develop new ways to improve your business processes, reduce costs, and become more productive.

11. Implement cybersecurity — You need to secure your systems and data to keep your company, employees, suppliers and customers fully protected at all times.

7. Focus on the customer — Your company’s online channels must focus on customer needs and their new online buying habits and preferences in order to gain access to new customers and markets.

8. Take your financial transactions online — Customers and suppliers alike are moving online fast, so enhance your digital payment and acceptance capabilities.

9. Improve your customer relationship management — Cultivate your customer communications, marketing, and sales through technology to improve sales and customer loyalty.

“

12. Anticipate the next crisis — Think ahead and make sure your strategic decisions and investments for digital will help future-proof your company. The COVID-19 crisis will recede, but make sure you are better prepared for future uncertainties.

Women entrepreneurs don’t need to be experts in technology to improve their company’s digital readiness.

Nor, do they have to spend a lot of money. By following these twelve steps they can accelerate their journey to becoming digitally savvy business owners.

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Recommendations for local enterprise partnerships

1. Increase support for women entrepreneurs and small business owners to build an inclusive digital economy.

2. Encourage women entrepreneurs and small business owners' training and upskilling by reducing training costs and promoting workplace training.

3. Provide affordable solutions to help small and emerging women-led businesses to evaluate their digital readiness.

4. Deliver digital training through free-online platforms, especially to new women business owners.

5. Local ecosystem role-players should increase the number of networking and knowledge sharing opportunities.

6. Develop new digital payment models to lower the cost and time required for transactions.

7. Incubators and accelerators should create forums for women entrepreneurs to share their digital transformation experiences and best practices.

Recommendations for government, policy-makers and public funders

1. Deploy high-quality digital infrastructure and ensure that small businesses can access core digital tools as an entry point to the digital transition.

2. Promote digital technologies and tools at schools, universities and small business development programmes.

3. Provide funding specifically for digital transformation and inclusion of women entrepreneurs.

4. Promote an enabling regulatory environment for fintech entrants so that the supply of digital financial services can increase, especially outside of aputo.

M

5.

emove basic technical barriers to digital business models by improving mobile phone penetration, power supply and connectivity reliability.

R

6. Ensure data protection frameworks are in place to reduce the operational risks for business owners.

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About Lioness Data

Acknowledgements

Lioness Data is the research and insights unit of Lionesses of Africa Public Benefit Corporation, a social enterprise advancing Africa’s women entrepreneurs. Lioness Data taps into a growing network of over 1.3 million women entrepreneurs across Africa to extract actionable insights that help investors, policy makers, and development agencies make faster and better data-driven decisions. Lionesses of Africa builds and delivers development programmes, business tools, community platforms, digital media, networking events and information resources that women entrepreneurs need - connecting them with key global markets for growth. Lionesses of Africa’s community stretches across 54 African countries and thousands of users in the Diaspora in Europe and North America. For further information about Lionesses of Africa, visit www.lionessesofafrica.com

Lionesses of Africa would like to thank all the women entrepreneurs who gave of their valuable time to participate in the Mozambique’s Women Entrepreneur Digital Readiness Pulse Survey. We are grateful to all our community network members across Mozambique who make it possible for our team to advance our mission to provide reliable data and insights.

Lionesses of Africa would also like to acknowledge those individuals who contributed to designing, collecting, and reporting on this survey. We are especially grateful to

Linda Zuze Ph.D, Stephanie Hawken, Natalie Irwin, and Sarah Ahmad for their invaluable research assistance and administrative contributions.

Copyright © 2021 Lionesses of Africa Public Benefit Corporation. All rights reserved.

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Lioness Data

Mozambique’s Women Entrepreneur

Digital Readiness Preparing for a new digital reality | 2021 Pulse Survey Report

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