Women-only Ride-hailing: New Data from the Market

Photo via Unsplash, Sai de Silva More ride-hailing companies are offering women-centred services, but do they get women on the road? The next time you open your favourite ride-hailing app, you may find a surprising feature: the option to choose a woman driver or rider. Safety is a determining factor when women decide how, when, … Continue reading Women-only Ride-hailing: New Data from the Market

Building Inclusive Platforms- A Conversation with Jumia and Lazada

The rapid digital transformation underway in many emerging markets has the potential to have an equally transformative impact for women entrepreneurs. However, critical gaps in access to the internet and mobile phones can limit the ability to work in tech-enabled jobs or to compete as entrepreneurs. This event draws on recent IFC research on the rise … Continue reading Building Inclusive Platforms- A Conversation with Jumia and Lazada

Interview on CNBC Power Lunch

How to accelerate women participation in Africa’s e-commerce industry. Alexa Roscoe sits down with Zinathi Gquma on CNBC Africa's Power Lunch to discuss the findings of new research that shows how e-commerce can put billions in the hands of women entrepreneurs. To watch the interview visit CNBC Africa.

Women & E-commerce: A $300 Billion Opportunity

Copyright International Finance Corporation E-commerce is thriving in Africa and Southeast Asia. IFC leveraged data Jumia and Lazada, two of the largest e-commerce platforms in Africa and Southeast Asia respectively, and found that this growth could be even higher if we invest in women entrepreneurs on e-commerce platforms. The reports ‘Women and E-commerce in Africa’ … Continue reading Women & E-commerce: A $300 Billion Opportunity

Announcing the Generation Connect Visionaries Board

The Generation Connect Visionaries Board has been assembled as part of the implementation of the ITU Youth Strategy to further champion the voices of youth to advance digital development. Board members are working together over an initial period of a year to achieve the board’s strategic objectives in the build up to WTDC-21 and the Generation Connect Youth Summit. … Continue reading Announcing the Generation Connect Visionaries Board

A conversation with Bolt, PickMe and Uber

Photo via Unsplash, Andy Art What role are women playing in the ride-hailing market? Can ride-hailing improve women’s mobility and work opportunities? From addressing safety to designing new products, hear about the results of three global studies and share in a discussion of practical challenges and solutions from Uber, Bolt, and PickMe. To watch the … Continue reading A conversation with Bolt, PickMe and Uber

Using AI for women’s economic empowerment: How can it work?

Photo via Unsplash, Jayshoots Caroline Rubin, Julia Hakspiel and Bobbi Gray from the WEE Working Group spoke with Alexa Roscoe, Disruptive Technology Lead at IFC’s Gender and Economic Inclusion Group, and Lana Graf, Principal Industry Specialist for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at IFC about ways in which digital technologies can support the women’s economic empowerment. … Continue reading Using AI for women’s economic empowerment: How can it work?

Women & ride-hailing in Sri Lanka

Photo Copyright International Finance Corporation Few industries have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic more than the transport industry. Both the public and private sector, including ride-hailing, are looking for solutions that will ensure a sustainable future. To ensure a resilient recovery from the pandemic and the opportunity to thrive, it is essential for companies … Continue reading Women & ride-hailing in Sri Lanka

Navigating the debate on women-only transport

Photo Via Unsplash, Jenny Ueberberg Segregated transport remains heavily debated both in terms of its benefits to women and its efficacy within broader transport systems. Proponents claim that it helps meet women’s urgent needs for safe transportation, one of the biggest barriers to women’s economic participation, and represents an important step forward for women whose … Continue reading Navigating the debate on women-only transport

#Digital2Equal: Expanding opportunities for women

This movement is a result of a partnership with the European Commission and unites leaders across the tech sector in order to utilize online marketplace to enhance opportunities for women competing in emerging markets. The initiative seeks to ensure that emerging technologies and business models—including the platform economy—benefit both women and men. Women already lag … Continue reading #Digital2Equal: Expanding opportunities for women

Five things a global study on ride-hailing tells us about women and the sharing economy

Photo via Unsplash, Courtney Cook The opportunities and risks of sharing economy models are particularly relevant for women, as they both have more to gain from greater participation and more to lose if they are excluded from new forms of income or assets. With this new research, ride-hailing companies are well-placed take the lead in … Continue reading Five things a global study on ride-hailing tells us about women and the sharing economy

The Money Show with Bruce Whitfield

An engaging discussion of the South African report findings for "Driving Toward Equality" took place on The Money Show with Bruce Whitfield. "He plays host to major players in the business arena, from blue-chip company CEOs to industry experts, and the entrepreneurs making waves in South Africa. Bruce interviews a well-known guest about their attitudes … Continue reading The Money Show with Bruce Whitfield

Promoting gender equality across the online marketplace

A new initiative called Digital2Equal reflects on how platforms are becoming a priority for the World Bank Group as it works to close gender gaps in the digital economy. “Disruptive technologies can close gaps between men and women,” Alexa Roscoe, who manages the initiative, said at an event IFC hosted last week in San Francisco, … Continue reading Promoting gender equality across the online marketplace

Driving towards equality: Women, ride-hailing, and the sharing economy

Photo via Upslash, Jan Baborak "On March 1, 2018, IFC launched the report... which explores how women and men participate in ride-hailing, particularly in emerging markets. The report uses data from Uber and survey results of more than 11,000 drivers and riders. It sheds light on how the emergence of ride-hailing is affecting women's work … Continue reading Driving towards equality: Women, ride-hailing, and the sharing economy

Women and innovation: Making the connection

Photo via Unsplash, Andy Kelly There is growing evidence that greater gender equality leads to increased business innovation, and companies that pay attention stand to reap great rewards. This article was initially published on the Stanford Social Innovation Review.  For the full article, please visit the website. For more of Alexa's work, read her profile or visit her … Continue reading Women and innovation: Making the connection

Two major trends that herald the future of the collaborative economy

Photo via Unsplash, This is Engineering There’s a lot of talk about the collaborative economy (CE), also known as the sharing economy.  What most commentary overlooks, however, is the fact that the CE has matured, and as it has done so, changed drastically. Here are two major trends that discussions on the CE are missing . #1:  … Continue reading Two major trends that herald the future of the collaborative economy

How the Internet of Everything can jumpstart CSR

Photo via Unsplash, Cosmo Surban The internet of everything will help address four fundamental corporate responsibility challenges.  This blog is a summary of the 2015 Davies Award winning entry on the Internet of Everything, sponsored by the Althea Foundation, Cisco and the University of Oxford Said School of Business.  Applications of the internet of everything … Continue reading How the Internet of Everything can jumpstart CSR

Data poverty: How the rise of big data risks marginalizing the world’s poorest

Photo via Marcus Spiske, Unsplash Reframing the problems of big data: When the implications of big data are debated the problem most often presented is that of data surplus. Questions of what applications produce what data, or what companies have access to it, all rest on the assumption that a great deal of data is … Continue reading Data poverty: How the rise of big data risks marginalizing the world’s poorest