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Africa’s digital business: The women swapping shops for smartphones – BBC

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The BBC profiles three African women – a former shop owner, a teacher and a taxi driver – who have boosted their income since they embraced digital platforms.

The coronavirus pandemic forced many people to rethink how they earn a living.

Independent research group Caribou Digital has found that women in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana are benefitting from the digital economy’s low barrier to entry and flexibility – which allows them to earn their own money while maintaining childcare duties.

Sharon Tarit

Ms Tarit (pictured above) did not expect to double her income in nine months.

The Covid pandemic had forced the closure of her baby clothes shop in Eldoret in western Kenya, and subletting properties through online platforms like Airbnb seemed like a handy stop-gap measure.

But Ms Tarit, 29, is now among a growing number of African women finding new careers using platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and ride-hailing apps like Uber and Bolt.

She launched her business with one property nine months ago and now has seven – taking on long-term rent agreements and subletting on Airbnb.

“I’m making much more money than the business I had before the pandemic,” Ms Tarit told BBC Business Daily.

People who use her business are mostly tourists booking holiday accommodation and business people who would rather stay in an Airbnb than a hotel.

“During Covid a lot of my friends lost their jobs and started using digital platforms to earn money. Now they are selling groceries online and working as delivery drivers,” Ms Tarit said.

Josephine Adzogble

A normal day for Ms Adzogble, 32, starts by posting adverts for products on WhatsApp and Facebook from her home in Ghana’s capital, Accra.

She is taking advantage of one of the biggest shifts in the African economy – the rise of online market places.

She sells mobile phones, air-conditioning units and televisions by advertising and posting on groups she has made on WhatsApp and Facebook, as well as existing ones such as her church group.

Ms Adzogble gave up a job teaching French to concentrate on her online business.

“It pays better than teaching. I can sell one item and earn more than a month teaching. I am a mother. I need to give my children the best education possible and they motivate me to get my financial independence,” she said.

For Ms Adzogble, building strong relationships with customers is key to making money online.

“That way they will buy from you and give a good review,” she said.

Ayobami Lawal

Ms Lawal, 34, works for ride-hailing firms Uber and Bolt in Nigeria’s main city, Lagos.

However, it has not been easy – the single mum of four said some men refuse to be driven by a woman.

“When I started driving taxis in Lagos all the men cancelled their trips when I arrived to pick them up,” Ms Lawal said.

“Lagos is a bit rough and you have to be very strong to drive around the town. Men don’t think I have the strength. I have to convince them to get in the car,” she added.

The study by Caribou Digital also found that many women using digital platforms to earn a living worry about their safety.

“A lot of the women we spoke to said they have been sexually harassed when picking up rides,” lead researcher Grace Natabaalo told the BBC.

“While governments encourage young women to take up this work they need to recognise the other side – that there are dangers and they should be taken seriously by the police and government departments,” she said.

But Ms Lawal said the positives outweigh the negatives.

“It’s important to earn a living for yourself but also I want to contribute to the wider economy by paying taxes. I want to grow myself and Nigeria’s economy,” she said.

  • You can listen to the three women telling their stories to Sam Fenwick here.

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Joe Biden Grants Posthumous Pardon to Black Nationalist Marcus Garvey

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January 20, 2025

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On Sunday, President Joe Biden made a powerful move by posthumously pardoning Marcus Garvey, the Black nationalist who left a lasting mark on figures like Malcolm X and other civil rights leaders.

Back in the 1920s, Garvey was hit with a mail fraud conviction that many believe was just a way to silence his growing voice in the fight for racial pride. Alongside Garvey, Biden also granted pardons to a prominent Virginia lawmaker and advocates pushing for immigrant rights, criminal justice reform, and gun violence prevention.

Congressional leaders had been calling on Biden to clear Garvey’s name, arguing that his conviction was more about politics than justice. After his conviction, Garvey was sent back to his native Jamaica, where he lived until his passing in 1940. This pardon is a nod to recognizing the legacy of a man who inspired countless others and fought fiercely for his people.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said of Garvey: “He was the first man, on a mass scale and level” to give millions of Black people “a sense of dignity and destiny.”

As President Biden wraps up his term on Monday, it’s still up in the air whether he’ll issue pardons for those who’ve faced criticism or threats from President-elect Donald Trump. Granting preemptive pardons for anyone who might be investigated or prosecuted by the incoming administration would push the limits of presidential power into uncharted territory.

Biden has already made history by issuing the most pardons and commutations in a single presidency. Just last Friday, he announced that he’s commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 folks locked up for nonviolent drug offenses. He also gave a blanket pardon to his son Hunter, who faced charges related to gun and tax issues.

Additionally, Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 out of the 40 individuals on federal death row, swapping their death sentences for life in prison—this move comes right as Trump, who has been vocal about his support for capital punishment, is stepping into office. During his first term, Trump oversaw an unprecedented wave of executions, with 13 carried out even amid the pandemic.

It’s important to note that a pardon wipes the slate clean, lifting guilt and punishment, while a commutation simply lightens or eliminates the sentence without clearing the wrongdoing.

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At least seven people killed by army at Ghana’s AngloGold Ashanti mine

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January 20, 2025

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ACCRA (Reuters) -A Ghanaian small-scale miners’ association on Sunday said soldiers killed nine unarmed people at an AngloGold Ashanti mine on Saturday night, while the army said seven illegal miners had been killed in a firefight.

Kofi Adams, local chairman of the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners, told Reuters that nine people had been killed and fourteen severely injured in the incident at the Obuasi gold mining site in the West African country’s Ashanti Region.

He said the people had not been armed.

Earlier, Ghana’s armed forces said that about 60 illegal miners carrying locally manufactured rifles and other weapons breached the mine’s security fence at around 11:00 pm (2300 GMT) on Saturday and fired on a military patrol deployed there, leading to a shootout.

“This is unprecedented (and) it’s difficult to understand why this happened,” Adams said, noting that in the past, trespassers on the site had been scared off with warning shots.

Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama ordered an immediate investigation into the incident, the presidency said in a statement on Sunday, calling it “tragic”.

The government has asked AngloGold Ashanti to cover the medical expenses of the injured and the cost of burials, the presidency’s statement said.

AngloGold Ashanti could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Johannesburg-listed miner owns the Iduapriem and Obuasi mines in southern Ghana. The two mines produced more than 490,000 ounces of gold last year.

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Thousands attend funeral of Liberian ex-warlord Prince Johnson

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January 20, 2025

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Thousands gathered in northern Liberia on Saturday for the funeral of warlord-turned-politician Prince Johnson, a notorious face of the country’s brutal civil wars who died without facing trial.

Back-to-back conflicts devastated the small west African country from 1989 until 2003, claiming around 250,000 lives and resulting in massacres, mutilation, rape, cannibalism and the widespread use of child soldiers.

Johnson became infamous in 1990 after appearing in a video sipping beer as he calmly watched his fighters mutilate and torture president Samuel Doe to death.

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