MORE WOMEN NEEDED IN THE TECH INDUSTRY; A LOOK AT THE SUCCESSFUL TECH LADY BOOTCAMP 2019
"If you educate a man you educate an individual but if you educate a woman you educate a whole nation" This quote could be the main slogan for the Tech Lady BootCamp which was recently held in Ogun State (Nigeria) by the Nubianette Team in collaboration with Uwani hub. This is by no means saying that men should be neglected, we are trying to strike a balance between the number of female leaders in the tech space which will eventually lead to more creative decisions being made in tech ecosystems across the country. Mary Job of How Do You Tech facilitated the WordPress/ Digital Skills session and she is a prime example of the impact women can have using technology in their communities. She organises summer workshops for local children, where they learn tech skills to solve real problems.
During a recent interview with Michelle of TechTalk Radio, I spoke about the important role women play in helping industries evolve and also changing the narrative on the type of solutions
that are created. How do we empower women who constitute 50% of the world's population, if they can't get into the rooms where discussions are being had about technological solutions for the future? That was the big question we struggled to answer before this project was born. It is important that women have an equal opportunity to work as programmers, strategists and Co-founders in the tech revolution which is sweeping the world.
Having the right set of skills is the first step towards empowerment and we are confident that this project will change the narrative and impact the tech industry in the near future.
We played host to 15 young women from across Nigeria who brought their unique stories, expectations and future aspirations to the boot camp. Our main aim was to equip them with skills to help them thrive in the tech industry and their local communities and I am happy to say that we have taken a few steps closer to achieving our aim of empowering 100 Nigerian women by the end of 2020 with the skills and confidence they need to break into this mainly male-dominated space.
As the days went by, and as the ladies engaged in the practical exercises, they started to believe more in their abilities and affirmed my belief that the reason why there aren't many women in the tech industry is the lack of skills. As their skill level improved I found it surprising that these were the same young women who came to camp wary of what to expect. There is a certain type of confidence that comes from being able to solve problems and i am excited for every last one of the ladies that participated in the Tech Lady Boot Camp this year. Women are welcome in the tech industry and we are excited to see the first set of innovative solutions to come from this project.
The programming session was taken by a programming expert Henry Ofozor, who has been a part of the development of numerous software solutions and one of his platforms Adscollector, is quite groundbreaking in the online advertising space.
I was honoured to teach the ladies the introduction to marketing and branding for a tech startup, and explaining to them what to prepare for in all stages when developing their solutions for the mass market.
There was also a session on legal tips and leadership for women in business which involved bonding sessions facilitated by Mrs Chinenye Oragwu of Calm Hill Partners, a law firm in Lagos. We thank everyone who was involved in this project and we are following up with the ladies to ensure that they continue to grow in their chosen fields.
You can find more information about the activities at www.uwani.org
Watch this space for more on this project.
By Ali Afegbua - Principal Consultant at Nubianette Consulting.
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