Blog · Opportunity
Closing the digital gender gap for Nigerian girls
Scholarships, jobs, lessons and safety information increasingly live online. Many Nigerian girls and women are still locked out. Here is what the gap looks like and what helps.
Think about how many opportunities now start with a phone. Scholarship applications. JAMB registration. Online courses. Job adverts. Health information. Even a call for help in an emergency.
Now imagine not having a phone, or having one with no data, or sharing one with three siblings and needing permission to use it. That is the reality for millions of Nigerian girls and women.
The gap in numbers
The GSMA, the global association of mobile operators, tracks how men and women use mobile phones in low- and middle-income countries. Its 2024 report found that in Nigeria:
- 33 per cent of women used mobile internet, compared with 52 per cent of men
- 32 per cent of women owned a smartphone, compared with 51 per cent of men
Across all low- and middle-income countries, GSMA's 2025 report found that women are 14 per cent less likely than men to use mobile internet, and that about 885 million women are still not connected. Progress in closing the gap has stalled.
Why the gap exists
The reasons are familiar to anyone who works with girls:
- Cost. Handsets and data are expensive. When a household has one phone, it often goes to a man or boy first.
- Permission and control. Some parents and partners see a girl with a phone as a risk to be managed, not a learner to be equipped.
- Skills and confidence. Girls who get less time on devices get less practice, and may believe tech "isn't for them."
- Safety. Online harassment, scams and image-based abuse put many girls off, or push families to ban phones altogether.
- Relevance. If there is little useful content in a girl's language or context, being online feels less worth the cost.
Why it matters
Being offline is no longer a small inconvenience. It means missing deadlines for scholarships, not seeing job openings, having less access to accurate health information, and being cut off from networks that help people move forward. As more of Nigeria's economy moves online, the gap in access becomes a gap in opportunity.
What helps
Shared, safe access points. School computer labs, libraries and community centres with supervised time for girls.
Skills, not just devices. A phone is only useful if a girl knows how to search, apply, protect her accounts and judge what is true.
Digital safety as a basic skill. Teach girls how to use privacy settings, block and report, spot scams, and never share passwords or intimate images. Teach them that if something goes wrong online, it is not their fault and they should tell someone.
Bringing parents along. Many restrictions come from fear. When parents understand what their daughters can gain online, and how to keep them safe, they are more likely to say yes.
Role models in tech. Girls are more likely to try coding, design or data work when they meet women who do it.
What you can do
- If you work in tech, volunteer an hour to show girls what your job looks like.
- If you have an old smartphone or laptop in good condition, ask a school or youth group whether they can use it.
- If you are a parent, sit with your daughter online. Learn together.
The question is not whether girls should be online. It is whether they will be there with the skills and protection to make the most of it.
