In furtherance of its commitment to bridge the economic gender gap and help more women embrace technology, empowering 5,000,000 women in the technology space by 2030, Women in Tech (WIT), has officially commenced operations in its Nigerian chapter.
Women in Tech, which is a global advocacy group dedicated to equipping women with exceptional, global-standard technological skills, initiated this with the launch of the VBank Women in Tech Nigeria Makeathon, its inaugural advancement programme to upskill girls and women into Nigeria’s tech ecosystem.
The Makeathon which seeks to empower 1,000 girls and women spread across rural and urban settlements in Nigeria over a period of four months by upskilling them with varying degrees of digital, deep tech, and soft skills such as Product Design, Product Management, Software development, Data Science and Digital Marketing required within the technology ecosystem, was launched at the Women in Tech (WIT)’s digital conference tagged ‘Digitalising Gender Equality for Brighter Economies’ which held on Wednesday, November 24, 2021, in Lagos.
With this launch, the Makeathon has kicked-off across rural and urban communities in Nigeria, providing intensive and global standard learning experience for girls and women who desire to build a rewarding career in the tech space to design, build products, and solutions that will help solve global issues.
Speaking during the launch, the Country Manager, Women in Tech Nigeria, and CEO, HerVest, a women-focused and inclusive fintech platform, Solape Akinpelu said that the commencement of its operations in Nigeria signals the dawn of a new era for women players in the tech space.
“There is a large and waiting gap to be filled in the tech ecosystem globally. It is a clarion call to all of us as businesses, communities, individuals, and groups to come together to embrace tech and also build products and systems with women.”
“This launch officially commences operations of the fourth chapter in Africa and we understand the vibrancy and dynamism of Nigeria. A lot is expected in this part of the world, and we must let our girls and women understand that a lot is expected of them in the tech space to future-proof their career and to solve global issues using tech solutions,” she stated.
In her remarks, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Women In Tech Global, Ayumi Moore said; “If you really want things to change, you must take action and if truly we want to see more women in tech, there is need to take action. It is a global problem that requires a global solution and what we are launching today is to be able to empower over 5 million women by 2030 and change the world in a very short time.”
Also speaking at the digital conference, the Co-founder, Rising Tide Africa and Chief Executive Officer of Heckerbella Limited, who is also Advisory Board Member, WIT Nigeria, Yemi Keri, stated that; “When we are talking about digitalising gender equality for brighter economies without women in tech, then there is no equity. As a woman, you don’t look at the gender when in the midst of men as someone in tech. You need to see yourself as someone competent to be there. You will be able to command respect from men when you show that you understand your union and not just seeing yourself as a lesser gender.”
About Women in Tech (WIT)
Women in Tech® Global is an international organization represented in over 100 countries with a double mission: to close the gender gap and help women embrace technology.
WIT has a mandate to empower 5,000,000 women to play an important part in the ecosystem by 2030, and, as a result, boost the sector as a whole. The initiative has a mandate to Create Impact Through Actions to Build Skills & Confidence, Setting Women Up for Success.
To deliver the mandate of upskilling and equipping women to be more contributive to the country’s economic growth, be more valuable to themselves and their family/society, the initiative majorly focuses on 4 areas; Education, Social Inclusion, Advocacy and Business. The global initiative has set its footprint in 100 Countries in 6 Continents, building a community of strong women and currently having 70,000 women as members.
The initiative has enjoyed the rich contributions and support of Elisabeth Moreno; Minister of Gender Equality, France, Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic; Former President of Croatia, Elisabeth Phir; Minister of Gender Equality, Zambia, HH Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi; Ruler of Sharjah, member of the Federal Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates, Muriel Pénicaud, Ambassador for the OECD and Former French Minister of Labour, Rosa Monteiro; Secretary of State for Gender Equality Portugal.
The global executives of WIT Global include Ayumi Moore Aoki as the Founder; Nadia Mannell as the Chief Experience Officer, Lori Rodriguez as the Chief Development Officer among many other exemplary women who run the initiative.