Nearly 60% of self-employed women in Nigeria use WhatsApp to earn an income, the highest rate across four countries surveyed in a new study. 

Around 1 in 6 working-age women across India, Kenya, Nigeria, and Pakistan use WhatsApp to support their livelihoods, the research from consultancy group Caribou found. One explanation for Nigerian women’s higher adoption was that the country’s ecosystem of small-scale retail, services, and home-based production “aligns well with WhatsApp’s strengths as a communication-first tool,” the report found.

But access barriers remain, including a lack of internet-enabled devices and data costs. A second divide — where higher-income women tap into growth opportunities on WhatsApp more effectively — could potentially be closed through AI, said Jonathan Donner, a co-author of the report. We need to “intentionally build AI systems to support women all across the income stack,” he said, “helping women become more visible” in domestic and international markets.