For years, men dominated the senior and c-suite tech roles in Africa. But now, things are changing as more women gain skills and opportunities. In 2019, women made up 30% of people in tech in sub-Saharan Africa. Now, many of them are sitting in the position of power and creating tech products and services that impact countless lives.
In Kenya, 48% of
medium-sized enterprises were led by women. These enterprises contribute as
much as 20% to the country's GDP.
Even a decade
back, most of the tech jobs in East Africa were held by men. Now, women are
bagging those roles and changing the mindset that women cannot handle complex
technologies.
The Future is
Promising
A few days back,
Microsoft
Africa Development Centre (ADC), Microsoft's engineering hub in Nairobi
with as many as 1,000 employees, appointed Catherine Muraga as the new managing
director. She said, "The future (of women in tech) is promising; we have
seen more women taking up leadership roles in technology departments. The
growth might be slow, but it is happening."
Rosemary Kimwatu
is now the data protection officer at KCB Bank Group, which is East Africa's
biggest bank by assets.
On June 6, Meta
hired Kendi Ntwiga as its new global head of misrepresentation. In the new
role, she will work to scale Meta's enforcement of community standards.
Faith Gitonga
has spent two years as the Kenya country director at African payments company
Cellulant. Caroline Mukiira has also worked as IBM's East Africa general
manager for the same duration.
Faith Mugambwa,
fintech company Network International's East Africa managing director, stated, "It's
great to see more women employed in product development and innovation roles at
technology companies. I would like to see more female voices involved at key decision-making
levels to increase advocacy for other women."
Getting
Started is Simpler
Acquiring tech
skills is becoming simpler with time. Women in
Technology Uganda (Witu) is doing a
good job. Over 75% of its more than 8,000 alumnae "start their own businesses
or land digital jobs," says its website.
In Nairobi, the
AkiraChix coding course has taught coding to over 10,000 east African women.
Pitch competitions like Rwanda's Miss Geek Rwanda competition are also helpful.
More
Opportunities Needed
Mugambwa, the
Ugandan fintech managing director, thinks that women still need help to get
into leadership roles and board positions. She also added their appointment
shouldn't happen as a result of tokenism. She stated, "I would like to see
more mentorship and coaching opportunities to help aspiring women in tech
tackle any doubt they might have about their abilities or ambitions in tech. There
is still a financial challenge, with women facing more challenges to accessing
funding or capital for tech businesses as well as the continued gender pay gap."
Women in the
region face significant obstacles like economic uncertainty, political
instability, physical insecurity, and legal inequality. Also, women in the
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region need more help than others as they are
still not properly educated and are not morally, emotionally, and financially
empowered enough to make changes in their respective societies. It should be
changed as well.
Sources:
https://theparadise.ng/how-women-in-east-africa-are-reshaping-tech/
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/women-driving-positive-change-the-middle-east
https://qz.com/africa/2174952/how-women-in-east-africa-are-reshaping-tech/