African Journal of Computing & ICT

The mobile phone usage in women entrepreneurs have dramatically increased and continue to increase in developing countries. Despite a sporadic boom of mobile phone ownership by entrepreneurs, scholarly research of the social-economic implications on women entrepreneurs are limited. In addition, studies have been limited to individual countries, districts, organizations with limited focus on comparative country studies. The study uses activity and gender theories to explain various activities of women entrepreneurs in Kenya and Uganda using the mobile phone as a mediating tool to achieve the desired or expected object (benefits). This study used a mixed method approach, multi stage, purposive and convenience sampling were applied and the questionnaire, face to face interviews and focus group discussions were employed to study women entrepreneurs. Results revealed that women owned micro and small enterprises that belong to the informal sector in Uganda and Kenya. Results also indicated that mobile phone services and mobile money services influenced enterprise performance through operational, transactional and interactional benefits. However, mobile phone usage in women enterprises is curtailed by challenges with in and beyond access and ownership of mobile phones. Chief among these is network failures, buying air time, content control by their spouses and lack of awareness