The revolution in information and communication technologies (ICTs) has vast implications for the developing world, but what tangible benefits has it bought, when issues of social inclusion and exclusion, particularly in the developing world, remain at large? In addition, the gender digital divide is growing in the developing world, particularly in Africa - so what does ICT mean to African women?African Women and ICTs explores the ways in which women in Africa utilize ICTs to facilitate their empowerment; whether through the mobile village phone business, through internet use, or through new career and ICT employment opportunities. Based on the outcome of a extensive research project, this timely books features chapters based on original primary field research undertaken by academics and activists who have investigated situations within their own communities and countries. The discussion includes such issues as the notion of ICTs for empowerment and as agents of change, ICTs in the fight against gender-based violence, and how ICTs could be used to re-conceptualize public and private spaces.ICT policy is currently being made and implemented all over Africa, but the authors argue that this is happening mostly in the absence of clear knowledge about the ways gender inequality and ICTs are impacting each other and that by becoming alert to a gender dimension in ICT developments at an early stage of the information revolution, we may be able to prevent greater scaled undesirable effects in the future.

Acknowledgements Notes on contributors Preface Introduction - Ineke Buskens and Anne Webb 1. Doing research with women for the purpose of transformation - Ineke Buskens Part I: ICT tools: Access and Use 2. Women's use of information and communication technologies in Mozambique: A tool for empowerment? - Gertrudes Macueve, Judite Mandlate, Lucia Ginger, Polly Gaster and Esselina Macome 3. Considering ICT use when energy access is not secured: A case study from rural South Africa - Jocelyn Muller 4. Women's use of cell phones to meet their communication needs - A study of rural women from northern Nigeria - Kazanka Comfort and John Dada 5. Egyptian women artisans facing the demands of modern markets: Caught between a rock and a hard place - Leila Hassanin Part II: Female Only ICT Spaces: Perceptions and Practices 6. When a gender-blind access policy results in discrimination: Realities and perceptions of female students at the University of Zimbabwe - Buhle Mbambo-Thata, Elizabeth Mlambo, Precious Mwatsiya 7. An alternative public space for women: The potential of ICTs - Leila Hassanin 8. Using ICTs to act on hope and commitment: The fight against gender violence in Morocco - Amina Tafnout and Aatifa Timjerdine 9. The names in your address book: Are mobile phone networks effective in advocating for women's rights in Zambia? - Kiss Abraham Part III: Using ICTs: Making Life Better? 10. Mobile phones in a time of modernity: The quest for increased self-sufficiency amongst women fishmonger and fish processors in Dakar - Ibou Sane and Mamadou Balla Traore 11. Women entrepreneurs in Nairobi: Examining and contextualizing women's choices - Alice Wanjira Munyua 12. Internet use among women entrepreneurs in the textile sector in Douala, Cameroon: self-taught and independent - Gisele Yitamben and Elise Tchinda 13. ICTs as an agent of change: A case of grassroots women entrepreneurs in Uganda - Susan Bakesha, Angela Nakafeero and Dorothy Okello 14. The mobile pay phone business: A vehicle for rural women's empowerment in Uganda - Grace Bantebya-Kyomuhendo Part IV: Creating New Realities 15. Professional women empowered to succeed in Kenya's ICT sector - Okwach Abagi, Olive Sifuna, Salome Awuor Omamo 16. Reflections on the mentoring experiences of ICT career women in Nairobi, Kenya: Looking in the mirror - Salome Awuor Omamo 17. Our journey to empowerment: The role of ICT - Ruth Meena and Mary Rusimbi Epilogue - Ineke Buskens and Anne Webb