This paper investigates how information and communication technology (ICT) shapes the performance and inclusiveness of women-
led agro-enterprises across four African countries—Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda—whose policy environments and
digital infrastructures contrast sharply. Using a comparative design, we surveyed 1,120 enterprises and conducted 64 in-depth
interviews with female founders, extension agents and platform providers. Multilevel regression and crisp-set Qualitative
Comparative Analysis (csQCA) reveal that ICT intensity is positively associated with gross-margin growth only where bundled with
affordable data, sex-disaggregated training and trusted last-mile logistics; otherwise the gendered digital divide widens. Rwanda’s
high 4G coverage and public e-extension services generated the largest marginal gains (+18 % profit), whereas South Africa’s

advanced but high-cost ecosystem mainly benefitted already-scaled firms. Mobile money drives liquidity, but market-discovery
platforms deliver the strongest equity effects when co-owned by women’s cooperatives. The study synthesises four country-specific
ICT-Agribusiness Inclusion Configurations (ICT-AICs) and proposes a phased, gender-responsive digitalisation roadmap that
embeds rural women’s voice in platform governance, re-aligns public R&D incentives, and leverages Africa’s continental free-trade
area to de-risk private investment.