Women in Tech Africa

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Women in Tech Africa (WiTA) is an organization with a focus on entrepreneurship expansion and multiplying the numbers of females in technology, especially in Africa. It was founded by Ethel D Cofie. [1] Over the years, WiTA has strategically focused on enabling women to drive Africa's growth story and create an impact on personal life through technology. Currently, its target audience comprises aspiring female tech entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 40. Women in Tech Africa is the largest group on the continent with membership across 30 countries globally with physical chapters in Ghana, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Somaliland, Germany, Ireland, Kenya, Tanzania and Mauritius. [2]

Contents

Objectives

Major projects

Women in Tech Week (WiTW)

This digital festival brings women in tech globally together to celebrate success and impact through leadership training, peer learning, and workshops. [3] The focus topics are related to technology, entrepreneurship, work–life balance, and leadership. The audience for these events generally comprises women tech entrepreneurs, girls aspiring for STEM careers and C level executive women. These events focus not only on women in Africa but African women all across the globe. Currently, WiTW received an endorsement from the Graca Machel Trust.

MTN GirlCode

In collaboration with the MTN Foundation, Women in Tech Africa organized the MTN Girl Code project in 2017. [4] This project sought to increase the number of women participating in the MTN App Challenge (an MTN initiative run annually), [5] improve the number of ladies in the coding ecosystem in Ghana and encourage the number of female in the African Startup eco-system. Trainings were in business validation, mobile app and IoT development and game and animation development.

#HerFuture Africa Boot Camp

In Collaboration with ATBN (UK) [6] and Comic Relief, #HerFuture Africa, is a female entrepreneurship empowerment project aimed at empowering and equipping young women with the necessary tools to address the needs of their respective societies. [7] Participants were trained in design thinking, ideation, project plans, and business model canvas and solution generation. This project saw the rise of Ivy Barley, [7] the founder of Developers in Vogue.

#CTA-Agrictech

In collaboration with the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) AgriHack Talent Initiative, this initiative aimed at accelerating entrepreneurship for improved livelihoods in the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. The pitch AgriHack competition was open to founders of ICT solutions that address needs in the agriculture sector. [8] [9]

Awards

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whurley</span> American tech entrepreneur

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goodwall</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regina Honu</span> Ghanaian software developer

Regina Honu, is a Ghanaian social entrepreneur, software developer and founder of Soronko Solutions, a software development company in Ghana. She opened Soronko Academy, the first coding and human-centered design school for children and young adults in West Africa. Honu has received multiple awards, including being named by CNN as one of the 12 inspirational women who rock STEM. She was also named as one of the six women making an impact in Tech in Africa and one of the ten female entrepreneurs to watch in emerging economies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Enonchong</span> Technology Entrepreneur

Rebecca Enonchong is a Cameroonian technology entrepreneur and also the founder and CEO of AppsTech. She is best known for her work promoting technology in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethel Delali Cofie</span> Ghanaian entrepreneur

Ethel Delali Cofie is a Ghanaian entrepreneur, IT professional and consultant. She is a founding member of Women in Tech Africa. She is also the CEO and founder of Edel Technology Consulting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stemettes</span> Social enterprise

Stemettes is a social enterprise which encourages girls and young women aged 5–25 to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM). Stemettes runs panel events, hackathons, the Student to Stemette mentoring programme supported by Deutsche Bank, Outbox Incubator and an app, OtotheB, an online platform for girls interested in STEM and entrepreneurship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oreoluwa Lesi</span> Nigerian, UK trained economist and IT expert

Oreoluwa Somolu Lesi is a Nigerian social entrepreneur and UK-trained economist and information technology expert. She is the founder and executive director of Women's Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC), a non-profit organisation that empowers women and girls socially and economically through education in Information technology. W.TEC was established in the year 2008. She is a fellow of Ashoka and a recipient of the Anita Borg Institute (ABIE) Change Agent Award.

Michelle Sun is a Chinese entrepreneur from Hong Kong. She founded First Code Academy, a K-12 coding school headquartered in Hong Kong which taught children 4 and up how to code and create mobile applications. The academy had presence in 6 different cities in Asia, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Teaching was given either in their school classrooms or in the firm's own offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Njideka Harry</span> Nigerian entrepreneur and activist

Njideka Françoise Harry is a World Economic Forum Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship Fellow.

Nathalie Beatrice Chinje is an entrepreneur and international consultant. She is the founder and CEO of the company Upbeat Marketing, and has been actively working to forward private sector development, foreign direct investment, and female entrepreneurship on the African continent for over 20 years. Dr. Nath is a member of the Advocacy and Communications Committee of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) Board, an Expert for the African Union Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and consults for the African Development Bank (AFDB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foster Awintiti Akugri</span> Ghanaian entrepreneur

Foster Awintiti Akugri is Ghanaian entrepreneur and the founder and president of Hacklab Foundation, a non-profit organisation that promotes and empowers young entrepreneurs using technology in Ghana to solve local issues and create jobs. He is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper.He was the youngest participant at the World Economic Forum's 48th Annual Meeting, Davos, Switzerland in 2018. Driven by his life's purpose to helping people find their path, Foster launched GrowthWithTiti in January 2021, an initiative with the mission to break down the complexities of finding your purpose, defining your mission, and navigating the grey to crush your goals. He hopes to leverage this platform to reach and impact one million people by 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac Sesi</span> Ghanaian entrepreneur

Isaac Sesi is a Ghanaian entrepreneur, engineer, and the founder of Sesi Technologies, a Ghanaian company that solves agricultural and food challenges. He is known for his development of a moisture meter to help sub-Saharan African farmers reduce post-harvest losses

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Amuzu</span> Ghanaian computer scientist

Anne Amuzu is a Ghanaian computer scientist and the co-founder of the technology company, Nandimobile Limited. Her company has received several awards, including best business at the 2011 LAUNCH Conference in USA.

Camille Hearst is a female African-American entrepreneur and innovator, credited in several online news publications for her decades-long contribution to the technology, social network, digital music service and product design sectors. In addition, she is recognized as a leading woman of color in entrepreneurship. In 2016, she broke barriers as a Women C.E.O. and a founder of color with her startup, Kit.

Asmau Ahmed is a Nigerian-American entrepreneur, technology advocate, and beauty expert. Ahmed is an advocate for women in technology and entrepreneurship.

Evelyn Namara is a Ugandan technologist, technology entrepreneur and corporate executive who founded Vouch Digital in 2017. She serves as a non executive director on the KCB Bank Uganda Board of Directors, MTN Mobile Money Uganda Limited Boards of Directors and also serves on the Refactory Advisory Board. She is first Ugandan to win the Anita Borg Change Agent Award Winner in October 2012. She is the founder of Innovate Uganda

References

  1. ↑ Cofie, Ethel. "It's not a man's world: The African women breaking down tech barriers". CNN. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  2. ↑ "Women in Tech Africa [africa's largest women in tech group] | Creating Opportunities and affecting our communities". www.womenintechafrica.com. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  3. ↑ "Women in Tech Week – Women in Tech Week". womenintechweek.com. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  4. ↑ "MTN Apps Camp for girls launched". 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  5. ↑ "All winners of the MTN Apps Challenge Season 5 and their Projects". Mfidie.com. 2018-06-30. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  6. ↑ "Africa Technology Business Network". Africa Technology Business Network. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  7. 1 2 "HerFutureAfrica". HerFutureAfrica. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  8. ↑ "Women In Tech Africa Partners With CTA To Encourage More Women Into AgriTech -". 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  9. ↑ "Young and female entrepreneurs: Win Pitch AgriHack 2018 and ." Venture Capital for Africa. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  10. ↑ "2018 EQUALS in Tech Award winners reimagine the digital future | EQUALS global partnership to bridge the digital gender divide". EQUALS global partnership to bridge the digital gender divide. Archived from the original on 2019-05-20. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
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