hurdle to Internet access. It is unfortunate that factors such as digital illiteracy affect women and girls more than their male counterparts thus leading to a gender divide in the use and adoption of technology. The gender divide, was discussed further under Session Two of the IGC which is discussed fully below. To alleviate digital illiteracy, government has tried to promote access to the Internet by donating computers to rural schools. Unfortunately, most of these computers remain unused because the schools have no reliable source of electricity to run the computers which in other cases is coupled with the shortage of qualified teachers who can teach computer skills. There is therefore, need for government to prioritise access to other basic services such as electricity before access to the Internet and other ICT based services can be enjoyed in such areas. A 2016 Afrobarometer report found that an estimated 39% of the Zimbabwean population had access to the electricity grid.11 This means that at least 61% of the Zimbabwean population live in areas without any electricity; this is especially true for most of Zimbabwe’s rural areas. Electricity remains the main source of energy because alternative sources of energy such as solar energy have not proved as popular or affordable in rural and urban Zimbabwe. Infographic showing connection rates to electricity grids in 36 African countries including Zimbabwe. Photo Credit: Afrobarometer The direct relationship between access to electricity and access to the Internet is one example of why no single actor can improve access to the Internet through their own singular effort. Improving access rates to the Internet in Zimbabwe will take 11 A. Oyuke, P. Halley Penar, and B. Howard “Off-grid or ‘off-on’: Lack of access, unreliable electricity supply still plague majority of Africans” Afrobarometer Dispatch No. 75, 14 March 2016 11 Misa Zimbabwe Second Internet Governance Multi Stakeholder Conference 21 September 2017