Women tech leaders from all over Africa have converged in Accra, Ghana for the second edition of the Africa Summit on Women and Girls in Technology (#TechWomenAfrica). The three day event kicked off yesterday, October 9, with over 250 guests reported to be in attendance.
https://twitter.com/jabdulai/status/1049636180457922560
The summit is holding for the first time since its first edition in 2016 held in Ghana. As expected, the women pulled no stops in no-holds-barred conversations.
#TechWomenAfrica is expected to take on fiery discussions around the role of women in tech because its main purpose is to serve as a forum for African women to share their views and experiences as regards their access to technology and competing in the male-dominated world of tech. The summit is also growing into a key avenue for policy advocacy aimed at supporting government initiatives that encourage more women to go into tech.
The summit is expected to discuss key issues such as: access to affordable broadband, women’s rights online, digital education and skills, and digital entrepreneurship.
This is the second all female tech panel I am seeing in a week! Something is definitely happening with women in the tech world.#TechWomenAfrica pic.twitter.com/aM5ntczIBt
— Omobola Johnson (@OmobolaJohnson) October 9, 2018
The summit would feature key appearances from notable women in the tech business like Nigeria’s former minister of communication technology, Dr Omobola Johnson who shared several insider tips from professional experience on the first day. She also gave a heartwarming story about the moment she was announced a cabinet nominee by former president Goodluck Jonathan.
The first day of the event also saw an all star panel discuss the topic “what is policy?” The panelists include; Estelle Akofio-Sowah of CSquared; Neku Atwodi-Edun from MEST Africa; and Grace Githaiga from the Kenyan ICT Action Network. The panel was moderated by Nanjira Sambuli, Senior Policy Manager at the World Wide Web Foundation.
Day 1 of #TechWomenAfrica may be over but there's still lots to look forward to.
Check out tomorrow's schedule and speaker line up here: https://t.co/w1a8ccDMKi
— World Wide Web Foundation (@webfoundation) October 9, 2018
On day two of #TechwomenAfrica, the central panel discussion is on the topic of “Women and the Web.” The session would focus largely on how more women can leverage the internet. Guests will speak about their desires and challenges to get more women “to claim the web for civic, political and socio-economic empowerment“. Panelists for this discussion include female activists, web professionals and bloggers.
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