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Gender Gap ICT Use
Economic liberalization policies of the 1980s in Africa, egged on by international financial institutions, coincided with the start of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) investments and internet infrastructure, resulting in the widespread diffusion of ICT products and services on the African continent. The digitization trend in Africa included the privatisation of telecommunication companies. This was followed by consolidation of various ICT services under a single ministry. In addition, Africa experienced a significant increase in the number of mobile phone subscribers, rising from 247 million from 1998 to 2008 to 367 million subscribers by 2015. Despite investment efforts, African countries have faltered in reaping the expected socio-economic prosperity associated with digitalization because of a persistent digital divide, resulting from digital skills shortages, deficits in ICT infrastructure, and high-cost structures. The lacuna in consolidating digitization potentials in Africa, tend to be more vicious amongst the Girl Child (GC). This is often associated with computer anxiety or ‘technophobia’; and socio-cultural factors which strongly impede the access of digital tools by females.