When Eunice Kholowa logs onto Facebook or TikTok to share her short tutorials, hundreds of Malawian women follow her lessons on soap making, Malambe, a local drink made from baobab fruit and small business management, all designed to help women earn from home.
“My goal has always been to assist women,” says Kholowa, who lives in Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital. “I may not reach them physically, but through social media, I connect and share what I know. The feedback I get shows many are learning and starting small businesses.”
With over 80,000 Facebook followers and 31,400 followers on TikTok, Kholowa has built a strong community of learners. Although she has not yet fully monetized her content, her online presence helps women access free skills training.
“Platforms like TikTok don’t allow official monetization in Malawi,” she explains. “I sometimes earn when followers send gifts during live sessions, but mostly I do it to empower other women.”
For Hendrina Collings Phiri from Madeco in Mangochi district, Kholowa’s online lessons have been life-changing.
“Social media is more than entertainment; it’s a classroom,” she says. “I have learned how to bake cakes, make Malambe and prepare freezes. I now sell these products and make money.”
In Blantyre, Margaret Jamison has taken social media income a step further. She began in 2020, posting short Facebook updates announcing her catering and business lessons. Interested learners are invited to join a WhatsApp group for K500, where she shares detailed video lessons and recipes.
“Each group has at least 200 people, so it helps me make money apart from my physical classes,” Jamison explains. “The online platform helps me reach people in districts I could never travel to.”
Margaret’s model illustrates how Malawian women are turning digital engagement into income even without official monetization features. The likes and comments on her posts translate into paying clients on WhatsApp, a creative workaround to platform limitations.
However, women still face numerous obstacles. Rahimu Chikango, a student at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), says unreliable connectivity often disrupts her learning. “Sometimes lessons buffer for minutes. It’s frustrating, but I still learn what I can,” she says.
She adds that many of her friends give up when data runs out or when lessons fail to load, saying it is discouraging for young women who want to learn skills online.
Gibson Nkhata, a former ICT lecturer at Daeyang College and Mzuzu University, now pursuing a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Arkansas in the United States, explains why many Malawian women struggle to monetize their social media pages.
“Most Malawian women cannot monetize their Facebook or TikTok pages because these platforms have not yet extended official payment features to Malawi,” he explains. “Even when women have thousands of followers, they do not earn directly from the platforms.”
Other barriers include lack of access to smartphones with adequate storage, low digital literacy, and unstable internet. “Many women also rely on shared or borrowed devices, which makes it difficult to manage pages consistently or produce quality videos that attract sponsors or advertising partnerships,” he says.
He stresses that gendered challenges make the situation worse. “While men often use internet cafés or have more time to learn digital tools, many women are occupied with household responsibilities or face online bullying, which discourages them from staying active online.”
In Malawi in 2024, social media use remains uneven, with women underrepresented online. According to DataReportal’s Digital 2024 Malawi report, only about 35.8 % of social-media users are women, while 64.2 % are men. On Facebook specifically, women account for just 37.6 % of users compared to 62.4 % men. This gender gap in digital participation, along with high data costs and limited connectivity, makes it more difficult for many women to access online learning and turn social media engagement into income.
Still, experts say Malawi’s National ICT Policy (2013) and Digital Economy Strategy (2021–2026) are important steps toward inclusion. Both aim to improve access and digital literacy, especially for women and youth.
Kholowa says these changes can make a difference for thousands of women like her.
“Every time a woman tells me she’s earning money because of my videos, I feel fulfilled,” she says with a smile. “Even if I don’t make much myself, I’m helping others turn their likes into livelihoods, and that’s worth more than anything.”
