mobile phone

FIGURE 1.2.7 In most economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, most unbanked adults have a mobile phone

Adults with no account (%), 2021

Sources: Global Findex Database 2021; Gallup World Poll. Note: Gabon and Mauritius are not included in the figure because data on mobile phone ownership were not available.

case everywhere. In South Asia, for example, women are 18 percentage points less likely than men to have a mobile phone. India and Bangladesh are near the South Asian average, with gaps in mobile ownership of 19 and 17 percentage points, respectively. In Pakistan, women are half as likely as men to have a mobile phone (figure 1.2.8).

Mobile phones in Sub-Saharan Africa are central to account ownership in the economies in this region. Future progress, however, depends in part on ensuring that women have access to this crucial technology. Among adults in Sub-Saharan Africa, 86 percent of men have a mobile phone, compared with 77 percent of women—a gender gap of 8 percentage points. Yet in several economies, including Cameroon and Zambia, women are almost as likely as men to own a mobile phone (figure 1.2.9). In some economies, such as Zimbabwe, women are more likely than men to have a mobile phone.