Authors: Sophia Friedson-Ridenour and Yemsrach Kinfe Edey Connecting female entrepreneurs to digital platforms that provide access to information and resources is possible, even in low-income and low-bandwidth settings. However, supporting initial take-up may require traditional, in-person marketing and onboarding. This brief shares lessons from a pilot of a digital mentoring platform in Ethiopia. The target users were female entrepreneurs in Ethiopia's Somali region. The pilot found that on-boarding female entrepreneurs to digital platforms and helping them progress through the user experience is possible, but also suggests that thoughtful design modifications are critical. These modifications include (a) using old-fashioned marketing strategies (that is, television ads, brochures, billboards, and so on); (b) adopting a tech-plus-touch approach; (c) prioritizing a mobile-first low-bandwidth option; (d) simplifying onboarding requirements (for example, not requiring applicants to have an email address); and (e) providing educational and guidance resources. htps/ww .wrDbak.Rge/rga sarc- nd -i ovtnlb percent of those signees were female) and recruited One of the key drivers of the gender gap in profits 395 mentors (10 percent of which were female). between male and female entrepreneurs is that men's in iporant The following discussion focuses on lessons learned and women's networks tend to be different inand key takeaways of the case study. The findings ways. Women's networks are (a) smaller than men's, (b) primarily made up of other women, (c) more likely to wee iord By qittive reserh s od by the World Bank, which included interviews and focus consist of family and friends rather than new contacts, and (d) more reliant on spouses.' In addition, women gud wt 6 t e s w use their networks differently-they use them more as and 23 men). a source for financial support and less as a source of information. The differences in men's and women's FIGU-RE MIOMNO'VIONF networks are in part due to women facing greater time and mobility constraints.2 We also know there is THE USEH JOURNEY AN 1XPERIENCE an association between networks and business performance-women with stronger networks tend to have better business outcomes.3 Entrepreneurs share information about their business, industry, specific challenges they face, and how a mentor Digital technologies-such as digitally enabled can help. Mentors share their expertise and what help mentoring-have the potential to help women connect they can offer. with peers, participate in professional networks, and access mentorship opportunities and business support services, despite women's time and mobility A user-driven process puts the choice and agency in constraints.4 But a substantial digital gender gap the hands of the members to filter and choose who they presents challenges to women's ability to benefit from want to work with. A smart matching algorithm and new technologies.' Women's digital inclusion is inhibited thoughtful recommendations help them get started. by lack of affordability, poor connectivity and access to devices, low literacy, lack of digital skills, women's time poverty, and beliefs about the relevance of technology Once choices are identified, members reach out to to women's lives.6 The benefits of digital technologies, each other and assess fit. With thousands to choose therefore, do not automatically accrue to women, and from, on average entrepreneurs have 2+ mentors. without careful design of digital tools, existing gender inequalities can be replicated in the digital space, limiting the benefits that accrue to women. Through regular correspondence, on or off the platform, entrepreneurs increase their confidence, critical business skills, access to resources such as capital and networks, and build their businesses. The MicroMentor digital mentoring platform is designed to increase access to social capital and business know-how via mentoring for under-resourced KEY TAKEAWAYS entrepreneurs, especially female entrepreneurs. Through the platform, entrepreneurs can connect with mentors in a variety of sectors and industries from In low- more than 50 countries, typically via mobile phone resource settings with limited digital penetration, or computer. Platform membership and usage are supplementing online and digital marketing with free. The platform is available in English, Spanish, traditional marketing campaigns can help reach Arabic, Indonesian, and the Somali language, and women. At the same time, digital and traditional it has been adapted for various local contexts. The ad content should be localized-including in MicroMentor user journey and experience involves a the local language-and targeted at women. four-step process (see figure 1) that allows users to join, explore, connect, and grow at their own pace. In 2020, MicroMentor launched in Ethiopia. During When MicroMentor launched its program in Ethiopia's its first two years in Ethiopia, MicroMentor signed up Somali region in 2020, it initially marketed the platform 2,320 Ethiopian entrepreneurs to join the platform (22 exclusively through digital advertising campaigns on social media, including paid ads on Facebook, Instagram, is to work together on broader community engagement and Google-using ads in English. This strategy to promote the platform and to facilitate registration of was not very successful at recruiting female or male entrepreneurs and mentors, especially for those who entrepreneurs. MicroMentor then modified its digital ads, have limited digital connectivity and/or low literacy. This translating them into the Somali language and adapting has been the single most effective approach for recruiting them to the local context. MicroMentor even honed female entrepreneurs. Using a network of agents on the its marketing strategy to include a tailored campaign ground to help support and improve the take-up of new focused on female entrepreneurs. This was achieved by technologies, such as is common for mobile money and hiring a content creation firm to develop localized and other forms of digital finance, has proven effective at gender-specific marketing content and creating ads increasing usage. MicroMentor is now taking a "tech-plus- in the Somali language that featured testimonials from touch" approach to further build the mentorship network local female entrepreneurs. Although targeted content for female entrepreneurs in the Somali region; in less than helped the program reach more women, MicroMentor's a year, it has more than doubled women's participation on digital and social media strategy was most successful the platform-driven primarily by this recruitment strategy. at recruiting male entrepreneurs. For example, of all the users who joined the platform through a Facebook ad in 2022, only 20 percent were female, whereas 80 Prioritizing a mobile phone option that requires percent were male. The qualitative research identified low bandwidth: Investing in a platform design that is women's lower levels of education and literacy, internet optimized for mobile phones and supports a robust access, and technology use as potential limiting factors. user experience, in an environment characterized In response, MicroMentor introduced a more traditional by limited network connectivity, can help make recruitment strategy (that is, television ads, billboards, technology more accessible and equitable. brochures, banners, and so on) to reach women. Print materials were used primarily to support the roll out of joint partnerships with public and private actors. Findings from the qualitative research indicate that most respondents access the internet via their mobile phones and face challenges with high data costs and Adopting a tech-plus-touch approach. In- low bandwidth. Women, in particular, face greater barriers person interactions and support can help increase to owning and using technology and would benefit from a take-up and use of digital technologies for users platform design that is optimized for use on their mobile that face literacy, trust, and other barriers. phone (instead of computers) and performs well in a low- bandwidth environment (that is, a lighter version that can ensure accessibility to crucial content), making sign-up, The qualitative research found that entrepreneurs in usage, and connections easier. the Somali region have limited experience with formal mentoring and rely primarily on informal mentorship from family and friends. Family relationships were Lowering reported to be very important and the primary source the barriers to registration can simplify the of business financing and guidance. In addition, several onboarding process and increase the ability of participants noted that many people in the Somali region women to use new digital products and services. do not trust web-based services and prefer in-person relationships, personal knowledge, and/or local support. This, in conjunction with low rates of digital literacy, led Qualitative research also found that most female MicroMentor to implement an in-person recruitment respondents reported using WhatsApp for business strategy to build trust and a sense of community among purposes, but very few female respondents use email for potential platform users in Ethiopia, while also increasing business purposes. In contrast, men reported high usage MicroMentor's presence in the local entrepreneurial of both WhatsApp and email. In response to this finding, ecosystem. Partnership Memorandums of Understanding MicroMentor is exploring the possibility of having people were developed with seven partners-both public and sign up using their WhatsApp details instead of requiring private sector actors-whose missions and activities an email address, as this would improve accessibility and align with MicroMentor. The goal of these partnerships simplify the sign-up process, especially for women. Providing educational and guidance resources on mentoring can help entrepreneurs and mentors better identify their mentoring needs and form meaningful mentoring relationships-especially for those least familiar with formal mentorship, such as women. The qualitative research found that entrepreneurs in the Somali region had limited experience with formal mentoring, and some entrepreneurs were not familiar with the concept at all. Research also indicates that women, in particular, have smaller business networks and rely more on their spouse and/or family members for business support Therefore, MicroMentor has introduced educational resources and additional guidance through its platform to support entrepreneurs and mentors in better identifying their mentoring needs and to assist them in searching, finding, and forming meaningful mentoring connections, especially as mentoring is a new concept for many entrepreneurs in the region. The upgraded platform experience includes support resources for mentors to improve their online mentoring skills, and better matching data for improved recommendations; and resources for entrepreneurs, including informational content on relevant topics, to help users find the right mentoring match. This work has been supported through generous contributions from Global Affairs Canada, in partnership with the Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality (UFGE), which is a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank to advance gender equality and women's empowerment through experimentation and knowledge creation to help governments and the private sector focus policy and programs on scalable solutions with sustainable outcomes. The UFGE is supported with generous contributions from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. For their contributions to and participation in this work we would also like to acknowledge the American Institutes for Research, Tsedey Asheber, Niklas Buehren, Rachel Coleman, the Gender Innovation Policy Initiative for Ethiopia (GIPIE), Cansu Birce Gokalp, Rachael Pierotti, Toni Weis, the Women Entrepreneurship Development Project (WEDP), the World Bank's Africa Region Chief Economist Office, and MicroMentor's Ethiopia-based partners, which include SRS Bureau of Skills and Job Creation, Bureau of Women and Social Affairs, Bureau of Youth and Sports, Bureau of Innovation and Technology, Jigjiga University, Rays MFI, Shabelle Bank, and Jigjiga City Administration. 1. Franciso Moraes Leitao Campos et al., Profiting from Parity: Unlocking the Potential of Women' Businesses in Africa (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2019). 2. World Bank, Ethiopia Gender Diagnostic Report Priorities for Promoting Equity (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2019) 3. Emma Chastain et al., Bridging the Entrepreneurship Gender Gap: The Power of Networks (Boston Consulting Group, 2014); Wyatt Brooks, Kevin Donovan, and Terence Johnson, "Mentors or Teachers? Microenterprise Training in Kenya," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 10, no. 4 (October 2018): 196-221; M. Mehrab Bakhtiar Gautam Bastian, and Markus Goldstein, "Business Training and Mentoring: Experimental Evidence from Women-Owned Microenterprises in Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper 9552 (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2021); and Naira Kaira et a/, Breaking Barriers: Female Entrepreneurs Who Cross Over to Male-Dominated Sectors (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2021). 4. Lucero Burga et al., Using Digital Solutions to Address Barriers to Female Entrepreneurship: A Toolkit (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2021). 5. In Ethiopia as of 2017, looking at people ages 15 and older 55 percent of men and 35 percent of women had access to a mobile phone, and 10. 5 percent of men and 7.3 percent of women had access to the internet (World Bank Global Findex Database 2021) Since then, mobile phone access has increased modestly, and internet access has more than doubled (see ). 6. Judith Mariscal et al., "Bridging the Gender Digital Gap," Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal 13 (2019-9): 1-12. 7 Campos et at., Profiting from Parity Photo credit: All photos credited to Mercy Corps