Lending the girl child in Africa a space in Tech

The continent of Africa has 54 countries and about 1.26 billion people. It is home to major urban centers, some of the greatest natural wonders of the world, unbelievable cultural history, and devastating poverty. Though it is often depicted through stereotypes, particularly in the Western world, Africa can boost of tech leaders and innovators rising. Much like the rest of the world, African nations struggle with gender equality, and, again, like the rest of the world, these disparities are particularly stark in the technology space. It has been discovered that although the future of work in Africa is rapidly growing, it isn’t accustomed to encourage girls in the tech field. The employment ratio of girls to boys in the tech space is outrageously nominal. There is a limited number of women in the tech field and for the rising future of work more women will need to be embraced wholely into these space. The IPSOS survey says 89% of African women are usually the decision-makers or co-decision makers for household purchases yet UNESCO says the share of women working in research and development is 32% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Part of the reason is cultural as each country in Africa has its own cultural values and many have strict notions about the role of women.

According to the McKinsey’s Women Matter Africa report in 2016, only 5% of tech company CEOs were women, while 29% of senior managers were women. The report also revealed that only 36% of promotions in organisations go to women in Africa. Although companies express a strong desire to reach underrepresented women of color, less than 0.1 percent (or $335,000) of the tech companies philanthropic giving focused on reaching them specifically. Many companies sponsor programs to reach underrepresented minority communities generally rather than doubling down on removing barriers for women of color in particular. This current gender-neutral approach is unlikely to change the persistently low number of underrepresented women of color in tech.

Nkemdilim Begho, founder/CEO, Future Software Resources Limited, an IT solution company, holds an opinion that “society positions STEM as something that is exclusive to boys, which is why very few women venture into STEM-related careers. This is not just a function of our educational system, it starts at home where mothers leave everything technology to their husbands or sons. This unavoidably influences how young girls see technology and their role or relationship with it.”

It has become almost imperative to introduce relevant coding skills at a very early stage to kids to enable them find their niche at that stage in their lives. Emphasizes on important skills such as collaboration, creativity and communication to enable young girls to apply their technical knowledge to solve real-world challenges could be a befitting way to encourage this system. Rather than preaching that they can be unfit for these skills or that learning to code is difficult, girls should be allowed to figure out what works for them. They should understand that they should learn technology for the sake of something.

Odunayo Eweniyi, a successful co-founder and business leader of Piggybank.ng in Lagos, says, “Many times, women are not allowed to aspire ‘too high.’ As a result, they tend to participate in the least risky ventures.” This phenomenon explains why women are more likely to lead businesses, but their ventures are lower risk but without expansion opportunities.

Although a TechCabal report on Nigerian Women in Tech showed that the percentage of women participants in tech is increasing by the year, the current number is a far cry from what is possible. Going by this, there is a high tendency for women to be invisible within an organisation — a situation that may have resulted from some gender stereotypes. Trying not to shirk these issues only to male dominance by saying the challenges women revolve around gender-bias, the gender has to deal with low pay and have to compete for jobs as well. There is a limited amount of accountability that is rewarded to the female in the workspace. Hiring managers and team leads do not trust the ability of a woman to oversee a project from concept to completion or demonstrate the ability to drive strategic insights to drive the firms output.

In recent years, steps taken to fix the issue of underrepresentation of women in tech, globally, have been focused on students studying STEM courses in high schools and colleges. A lot of incredible organizations are running summits, creating networks, and otherwise supporting women in tech in Africa. While the intent is absolutely to provide role models and mentorship specifically for women, it is not just a “women in tech” thing but a summit with an all-female lineup to counterbalance the norm of having all, or mostly, male speakers. Although this may not immediately be the solution to the problem, it is only a matter of time before results are visible and it will be in some light years ahead before there will be a positive projection on the effect this will arouse. A permanent remedy to creating a more friendly environment in tech for the girl child will have to start at home and be encouraged in schools and extracurricular activities.

Tie technology to what is important to them, and you’ll get their interests. If tech is not demystified for some older women who had no interest, in a few years, it will be replicated in their female wards, and the cycle will continue. As part of a broader diversity effort, it is important for companies to support either girls-only programs or coeducational programs that focus on achieving at least 40 percent representation of girls through proactive recruitment and retention steps. Maintaining a focus on women’s equal representation, with stated goals at the program level, is the only way to avoid replicating the same gender ratios we see in tech today. By showcasing more women making use of tech, a system of enough female role models is initiated and if we have more tech-enabled mothers, we will have tech-savvy girls. In a bid to not trivialize formal education, it is essential to provide education to improve digital connectivity and infrastructure. In 2019, the Democratic Republic of Congo dedicated an entire month to science and technology, and it included an initiative of Science Caravans organized in 6 cities by the Education Project for the Quality and Relevance of Teachings at the Secondary and University Levels which created STEM educational programming specifically designed with the context of the DRC in mind.

According to this chart by McKinsey, things are getting worse, not better: the share of black women receiving computing degrees has dropped by 40 percent over the past decade, to 4 percent, from 7 percent. If this trend continues, the number of underrepresented women of color receiving computing degrees will not double over today’s numbers until 2052 — by which time they will represent a vanishingly small proportion of all graduates. Below are a few reasons why we need more women in tech:

• Research shows the most effective problem solving comes from collaborating with individuals of different genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities and race. A calculated inclusion of these factors will lead to innovation.
• Women have the ability to tap into the largest economic force in the world. They control the larger percentage of all household spending in Nigeria and a lack of women in the field can lead to an inability to market effectively to that audience which in turn could greatly impact the success of many tech-related Nigerian companies.
• The African tech space could use more tech talent giving the critical skill shortages. There is a wealth of female tech talents waiting to be utilized, until this is achieved we may never really have competitive advantage in the global market.
• STEM skills are key to a country’s development and future prosperity. The majority of future jobs will require some combination of STEM, yet the numbers are rather discouraging. These kinds of programmes will help reduce the shortage of STEM skills that are needed to boost Nigeria’s economy.

Africa is frequently undercounted and underestimated but with women actively seeking to help capitalize on the potential across the African continent, the narrative we seek to alter, and change we hope to instil will come. Tech is amazing and fun, it is also the single field that is relevant today and will remain relevant for the foreseeable future. Today there really is no reason why women should not participate in tech. For one, more females could be what the Nigerian tech space has been lacking.