Information technology, business sustainability and female economic participation in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This study assesses, from the perspective of financial stability, how business/financial sustainability, moderates the influence of information technology on female economic participation in 49 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2008–2018. The empirical evidence is based on Tobit regression, which accounted for the censored nature of the outcome variables. The following important findings were obtained: First, ICT (information and communications technology) dynamics (mobile phone penetration, internet penetration, and fixed broadband subscriptions) are consistently moderated by business sustainability to positively affect female employment. Second, business sustainability scores must exceed certain thresholds before moderating fixed broadband subscriptions to induce favorable overall effects on female employment, female labor force participation, and female unemployment rates. The positive effects on female employment and labor force participation is ascertained by the thresholds of 18.742 and 19.505 Z-scores, respectively and a Z-score of 17.300 for the negative impact on female unemployment. The thresholds that should be exceeded are within policy reach, make economic sense, and are policy-relevant. This study contributes to the extant literature by providing actionable thresholds for business sustainability that can be employed by policy makers such that information technology positively influences female economic inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa.