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the exchange take as much as 80% of the sale pricehome. In the entire agricultural value chain fromthe farmers and producers to traders, this systemdemonstrates how ICTs empower women in theirsocial and economic activities. A woman trader interviewedby Gebeyachin, 10 the bilingual newspaperproduced by ECX, and who is currently participatingin the ECX, indicated that she was previously notactively involved in the family company that wastrading coffee. She said her husband was the onein charge; however, after the ECX introduced newmarket possibilities, she started to work and leadthe company’s activities, including marketing withother male traders. She said that female traders donot need to go through the process of negotiating,selling and receiving money, as the exchange doesall the work for them, using ICTs.Empowering urban women entrepreneursWomen entrepreneurs have also demonstratedhow ICTs empowered them to participate in othersocial and economic activities. The Association ofWomen in Business (AWiB) is a good example of aplatform for mid-level career women and businessowners that has enabled women from diverse backgroundsand with diverse dreams to come togetherusing its dynamic website 11 and to help each otherexplore their career paths. The online forum facilitatesdiscussions on various topics, which memberscan participate in from the comfort of their homesor offices. Members of the association are alsoable to blog on the website, where they share theirexperiences in business, mostly from a genderperspective, enabling other women in the networkto discuss issues that commonly face women andhow they can be addressed. To support the skillsdevelopment of its members, the association isalso providing an e‐learning platform where it hassuccessfully launched a 12-week online personaldevelopment course led by an internationally certifiedlife coach. It also aims to bring more offeringsto its pool of e‐education packages for personal andprofessional growth.Both cases – involving women at the grassrootsin rural areas, on the one hand, and mid-level professionalwomen and business owners who are mostlybased in urban areas, on the other – show how ICTscan empower women and bridge the inequality gaps.10 Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (2012) Ethiopia CommodityExchange Monthly Newspaper, 7(5), August 2011. www.ecx.com.et/downloads/Newsletter/20120309102708781Gebeyachin-Issue%205_English.pdf11 www.awib.org.etConclusionsStudies show that the challenge that women facein their entrepreneurship activities and in participatingin the small and medium enterprises (SMEs)sector, among others, include absence of technologicalknow-how and integration into businessprocesses and problems of finding markets and distributionnetworks. 12 The case studies highlightedin this report demonstrate how ICTs can empowerwomen to enhance their equal participation in theirsocial and economic activities.Nevertheless, generally, the diffusion of ICTsis highly uneven. There is a concentration in urbanareas, and some rural areas are almost untouched.Access to ICTs is further constrained by income,and also increasingly constrained by literacy andeducation. This is evident from the greater use ofthe interactive voice response (IVR) option in theECX market information system, which costs morecompared to use of the SMS-based services. Furthermore,these factors particularly affect access toand use of ICTs by women, as recent surveys suggestthat women are less likely to know and use theinternet and that they are less likely to own mobilephones and cover the expenses of using them. 13As a result, as much as access and usage greatlyenhance women’s empowerment, economic empowermentitself would help improve women’s accessand use of ICTs – and this is not instantly achievable.It has been argued that there is a link betweenthe magnitude of the gender divide and overall ICTpenetration levels. The argument also asserts thatas income and development improve, overall penetrationlevels increase. As income increases, and asit is distributed fairly in the household, householdswill be able to afford more phones, providing morewomen with access. 14However, there continue to be other challengesthat limit equitable access and the use of ICTs. Theseare cultural and social aspects that are consideredby many as normal social practices, household genderrelations, and discrimination against womenand girls in key areas of ICT access and usage, suchas education and employment. Studies reveal that12 Singh, G. and Belwal, R. (2008) Entrepreneurship and SMEs inEthiopia: Evaluating the role, prospects and problems facedby women in this emergent sector, Gender in Management: AnInternational Journal, 23(2), p. 120-136.13 Amde, W. (2011) Investigating gender-associated patterns in ICTaccess and usage in Ethiopia, paper presented at the CPRAfricaConference 2011, Nairobi, Kenya, 15-19 April.14 Zainudeen, A., Iqbal, T., Samarajiva, R. and Ratnadiwakara, D.(2008) Who’s got the phone? Gender and the use of the telephoneat the bottom of the pyramid, paper presented at the 2008International Communications Association Conference, Montreal,Canada, 26 May.127 / Global Information Society Watch