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.

Country-specific findings:

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 benefited already-scaled firms.

Mobile money drives liquidity, but market-discovery platforms deliver the strongest equity effects when co-owned by women’s cooperatives.

Conclusion and policy roadmap:

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.