Ghana’s Minister of Communications, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Akuffo has bemoaned the lack of technological knowledge especially among women and children. The minister said it is unforgivable that in the 21st century, majority of Ghana’s population, made up of women and children, still struggle to take advantage of technology advancements to improve their lives.
Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Akuffo made the comments when she met a delegation from Women in Tech Africa (WITA), to look for ways to develop programs to enable more young women to partake in the digital explosion happening globally.
The Minister used the opportunity to call on Women in Tech Africa to join forces and collaborate with her outfit to use technology to reach out to women and children in underprivileged communities around the country.
She also emphasised the role that technology can play in unleashing the potential of many underprivileged children who she said could become the next Einsteins and Steve Jobs of the world. She urged the WITA team to partner with the ministry in 2018 and beyond to make this vision a reality.
On her part, Founder of Women in Tech Africa, Ms. Ethel Cofie, thanked the Minister for opening up dialogue on the myriad opportunities that technology presents to Ghanaian women and children. Ms Cofie noted that Women in Tech Africa with operations in 14 African countries and in the Diaspora has the experience and capacity and is well positioned to take up the challenge to partner with the ministry in its quest to make Ghanaian women and children technologically literate.
Women in Tech Africa is involved in many projects including MTN Girl Code, #Herfuture Africa and the flagship program of the group, Women in Tech Week which is organised in 14 African countries and in the diaspora at large.
ABOUT WOMEN IN TECH AFRICA
Women in Tech Africa is a membership organisation in over 30 countries in Africa and the diaspora.
We have a strategic vision to enable women to drive Africa’s growth story and create impact on personal life. The Group believes that women are equally capable of being at the forefront of technological development and advancement in Africa and the world at large.
OUR PROJECTS
#HerFutureAfrica
In Collaboration with ATBN (UK) and Comic Relief, # HerFuture Africa was organised as a female entrepreneurship empowerment project which was aimed at empowering 32 young women between the ages of 18 to 35 and equipped them at a boot camp with the necessary business tools to address the needs of their respective societies.
MTN GIRL CODE
Women in Tech Africa in partnership with MTN Foundation Ghana organized the MTN Girl Code project which sort to; increase the number of women participating in the MTN App Challenge by at least 20%, iimprove the number of ladies in the coding ecosystem in Ghana and encourage the number of female in the African Startup eco-system. In all 54 ladies from Accra, Cape Coast and Kumasi were trained in Business Validation, Mobile App and IoT development and Game and Animation development.
This annual week-long festival provides an opportunity to train, lead and connect with thousands of women around the globe both physically and virtually on issues on Technology, Entrepreneurship, Work-life balance, and Leadership. The gathering is a great platform for women globally to come together to network, share and empower each other to improve and push forward Africa’ technological growth agenda.
The 2016 and 2017 events brought together 10,000 women virtually and physically with events on Leadership, Internet of Things, Mobile and Digital Commerce, Teach a Skill and Entrepreneurship across Ghana, Canada, Nigeria, Botswana, and China among others.
For interviews, please contact ethel@ethelcofie.com