FemTech refers to a wide range of digital services that engage with women’s lives, from financial and social platforms to health technologies. This Lightning Talk uses women’s digital health as a case example to examine a broader and urgent question: who governs the data generated by women in Africa.

The story matters because data generated from women’s bodies, behaviors, and care journeys is not only shaping AI driven health systems, but also constitutes highly sensitive information about private life. Depending on the legal and policy environments in which women are located, this data can expose them to legal, social, or institutional consequences, particularly as it moves across platforms and national borders.

Drawing on policy and ecosystem experience, the talk highlights how transnational data flows, uneven regulation, and limited representation of women in decision making create governance gaps. These gaps determine who has power over women’s data, whose interests are prioritized, and whose voices are missing when rules are designed and enforced.

In under seven minutes, the session connects everyday digital health use to broader questions of power, accountability, and policy coordination. Participants will leave with a shifted perspective: governing women’s health data is not only a technical or legal issue, but a transnational political challenge that demands stronger policy coherence and the meaningful inclusion of women’s voices in data governance.