On the occasion of International Women’s Day, we celebrate women’s achievements with Guest Curator, Sthu Zungu-Noël of UN Women
Sthu Zungu-Noël of UN Women has surveyed the many stories competing for your attention, and carefully selected the top ten articles that recognise and celebrate African women and girls who are championing the advancement of technology and digital connectivity.
ALX Africa’s First-ever All-female Software Engineering Cohort
Known for their work in partnership with visionary organisations to empower people in Africa and in other indigenous communities abroad to access dignified and fulfilling work, the Mastercard Foundation wants to help ALX to sponsor young women who meet the eligibility requirements the opportunity to be equipped with employable skills to enter high-growth career paths in the digital economy. ALX already has an initiative dedicated toward women in the industry called ‘WomXn and Tech’ – which was inspired by the UN’s IWD theme of ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’ – the new Mastercard Foundation collab cohort will form part of this initiative. SOURCE: NEWS 24
Meet Esther Mwema, a 28-year-old Digital Inequalities Expert and Artist from Zambia
A long-time activist on gendered safety issues, her current work grew out of the desire to increase girls’ representation in the digital governance sphere. Tech has shaped the lives of young people in profound and unique ways, says Esther, so when it comes to its governance, “involving youth for me is a no-brainer”. She is the founder of Digital Grassroots, the only youth-led organization in the Generation Equality Action Coalition on Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality. The internet’s militaristic origins, Esther emphasizes, have also shaped its governance. “That means that the issues affecting women and girls, and how technology can replicate gender inequality, were not at the center,” she says. SOURCE: UN WOMEN
Africa No Filter Investigates Africa’s Influence on the World, African Youth, and How Dominant Narratives about Africa Shape the Youth’s Perception of the Continent
The research interviewed 4500 people aged between 18 and 35 in Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Egypt, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa. 57% of respondents said pop culture has the biggest influence, followed by the US and Europe (45%), and politicians (31%). Regionally, pop culture had the strongest sway in Kenya (87%) and Zimbabwe, while West African respondents (65%) perceived the US and Europe as more influential. Interestingly, even though politicians are considered influential, only 11% of interviewees said they were influenced by politicians. SOURCE: AFRICA.COM
Somalia’s Female Journalists Defy Family and Societal Expectations to do Work that they Believe is Integral to their Nation’s Future
“Freedom is important,” said Farhia Mohamed Kheyre, 29, who heads the Somali Women Journalists Organization, an advocacy group fighting for the rights of women in an industry that she and others say is rife with sexual harassment and discrimination. As part of those efforts, members of the organization have been traveling to newsrooms around Somalia to promote a handbook about how to recognize sexual harassment in the workplace and what to do about it. SOURCE: VOA
Women in Cameroon Force the Military’s Hand
In February, a video posted on social media, showed several hundred women celebrating on the streets of Buea after Cameroon’s military released 30 young men, most of them students. The military said the youths were detained during raids a week ago in the Southwest town of Ekona, where separatist fighters were hiding. The women protested after the military stopped family members from visiting the youths in detention and chased away those who brought them food. SOURCE: VOA
How Ifeoma Nwobu’s Dynamic Interests Led her from Modeling to Tech
Ifeoma B. Nwobu is the COO of Sendstack, a mobility tech startup, in Lagos, Nigeria. But before this tech sis started pitching to investors, she was once the face of Vogue online, a model who walked the runway for top designers like Laquan Smith, Lisa Folawiyo, Lanre Da Silva Ajayi to mention a few at top fashion week events. In 2020, Nwobu got the opportunity to work with Bidemi Zakariyau, the founder of LSF PR. She handled digital marketing and gained some insights on Public Relations under Bidemi. At the time, she was also running a fashion resale business with her sister and business partner, Onyeka Nwobu. When Nwobu got her first job in Tech in marketing and product growth, it was a startup owned by her now co-founder. SOURCE: VENTURES AFRICA
Young Kenyans are on the Hunt for the Best Investment Options
This trend is a result of a growing market for wealth management and a need to minimise portfolio risk. According to the Standard Chartered Wealth Expectancy Report 2022, 35% of Kenyan investors use professional wealth managers, while 63% of young investors globally (ages 18-35) use them. The report also shows that younger investors are more likely to use professional wealth managers compared to older investors. This shift towards wealth management is also seeing asset managers such as banks and fund managers enter the space, offering personalised portfolios that are tailored to the unique needs of each individual investor. SOURCE: BUSINESS INSIDER
Why Timnit Gebru Isn’t Waiting for Big Tech to Fix AI’s Problems
Three hundred and sixty-four days after she lost her job as a co-lead of Google’s ethical artificial intelligence (AI) team, Timnit Gebru is nestled into a couch at an Airbnb rental in Boston, about to embark on a new phase in her career. Gebru sees her research institute DAIR as another organ within this wider push toward tech that is socially responsible, putting the needs of communities ahead of the profit incentive and everything that comes with it. At DAIR, Gebru will work with researchers around the world across multiple disciplines to examine the outcomes of AI technology, with a particular focus on the African continent and the African diaspora in the U.S. SOURCE: TIME
Boosting the Financial Capacities of over 200 Women Cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire’s Staple Crop Food Sector
The African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative has reached a landmark $1 billion in approved funding designated for lending to African women entrepreneurs. This is yet another milestone for the bank following an historic summit last week to tackle the escalating challenges of food security in Africa. AFAWA was launched in 2015 in Dakar during the first Feed Africa conference (Dakar 1 Africa Food Summit). Women run the majority of Africa’s agricultural sector small and medium-sized enterprises, yet they face significant barriers to accessing finance. Across the continent, African women entrepreneurs face an estimated $42 billion gender financing gap compared to men. SOURCE: AFDB
A Recent Study Investigated the Impact of COVID-19 on Working Women in South Africa
Researchers surveyed 402 working women. Most were in the 36-45 years age range, married or living together, and better educated than South African working women in general (44.5% held a postgraduate degree). Of these, 30% stated they were solely responsible and 31% were mostly responsible for the home-schooling. These results support findings that working women were forced to rapidly adapt to remote working while dealing with diverse psychological, social and economic impacts on their work-life balance. The emotional responses of the sample group during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic showed that initial anxiety, fear and a sense of being overwhelmed shifted to optimism in a relatively short period of time. SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION