Bridging the Digital Gender Divide: Enhancing Cybersecurity Resilience Through Women's Participation in Africa

Akindele John Ogunsola () and Talent Thebe Zwane ()
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Akindele John Ogunsola: University of Johannesburg, School of Economics, College of Business and Economics
Talent Thebe Zwane: University of Johannesburg, School of Economics, College of Business and Economics

A chapter in Behavioral Cybersecurity and Ethical AI in Relational Economics Context, 2026, pp 245-279 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This study examines the impact of the digital gender divide on cybersecurity resilience in Africa from 2014 to 2023. The study aims to ascertain the influence of gender exclusion and digital infrastructure status on national cybersecurity preparedness. Using System-GMM for dynamic estimates, Poisson and Gaussian GLMs for robustness tests, and PCSE for interaction effects, this study applies strict testing of the gender inclusion hypothesis of cybersecurity performance. The evidence is that digital literacy, governance, infrastructure, employment of women, and equality in the possession of mobile phones all promote cybersecurity resilience, but digital gender inequality reduces resilience. Although affordability and taxation may not feature in baseline estimates, they are critical under robustness checks to capture structural constraints. Disaggregated results also reveal that digital inclusion through infrastructure increases cybersecurity resilience in lower-income and East African nations and decreasing exclusion and infrastructural gaps lowers cybersecurity resilience in Western and Central nations. The results reveal that digital infrastructure by itself is not sufficient unless supported by reasonable gender inclusion policies. The study contends that closing the digital gender gap is not only a development necessity but also a strategic pathway to increasing Africa's cyber resilience. It offers focused policy proposals to advance equal access and institutional safeguards in the continent's digital future.

Keywords: Digital divide; Women inclusion; Digital infrastructure; Cybersecurity resilience; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H54 L86 N77 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-01214-2_11

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