Breaking the Digital Glass Ceiling: Akilah at the Transform Africa Summit
Earlier this month, Akilah joined one of Africa’s largest tech summits, Transform Africa, in Kigali.
Akilah was well represented at this year’s Transform Africa Summit, a highly renowned, international conference that brings techies, innovators, policymakers, and academics together to spark Smart cities, tech integration, and innovation across Africa.
Akilah students, staff, and alumnae participated in the summit, where they networked and advocated for increasing women’s participation in tech and innovation in Rwanda as well as globally.
The summit devoted considerable attention to women’s crucial role in Africa’s digital transformation. Heads of state, industry leaders, innovators, and representatives from international organizations called for closing the digital gender divide, breaking glass ceilings in the tech industry, and encouraging African girls to pursue education and careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
Akilah students, staff, and alumnae attended the summit.
Six hundred million people on the continent are still not connected to the internet, and a large portion of them are women. According to the World Wide Web Foundation, the digital gender gap in Africa has increased in recent years, with 23% more men and boys connected to the internet than girls and women.
Policymakers and industry leaders thus came together to push for more gender inclusion. They emphasized that the next generation — particularly women — will play a crucial role in moving Africa’s digital transformation forward.
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame emphasized the importance of including women in tech from a political standpoint:
“It is not technology itself that will bridge the digital gender divide in Africa — it is our politics. Once you have policies that value men and women equally, the rest will follow,” he said.
Africa’s New Tech Leaders
The Transform Africa Summit also included the first ever Ms. Geek Africa competition, an expanded version of Ms. Geek Rwanda.
Ms. Geek Africa is an international contest designed to inspire African girls to help solve the continent’s challenges with technology and encourage them to pursue STEM careers.
Initially a Rwandan tech and innovation competition organized by Girls in ICT Rwanda, Ms. Geek now includes 17 member countries of the Smart Africa Initiative, which organized the summit. This year’s finalists presented tech innovations from Rwanda, Kenya, and Niger after having outperformed peers from a range of other countries.
As a key supporter of Ms. Geek since its start in 2014, Rwanda’s First Lady, Jeanette Kagame, continued to advocate for girls and women in ICT throughout the summit.
“Recognizing the power of ICT to improve livelihoods through increased access to information, products, and services, we simply cannot ignore the need for platforms that celebrate and encourage more women and girls to pursue that field,” said Mrs. Kagame.
“The Ms. Geek initiative allows women and girls to use ICT to come up with solutions in their communities and inspire other girls to pursue ICT. It empowers them to realize that they too can contribute to the growth of their countries and communities. This is only possible if we learn from each other and put great focus on accessibility, affordability, and skills training,” she added.
As a key provider of ICT skills training for girls in Rwanda, Akilah is proud to be a Ms. Geek sponsor. Akilah students regularly participate in the contest, and last year a former student made it to the finals.
Innovations for Smart Cities
This year’s Miss Geek winner, Ruth Njeri Waiganjo from Kenya, presented her app Safe Drive, which tracks driver data to keep road users safe. The two runners-up, Leah Akimana and Delphine Micyomyiza, both from Rwanda, impressed the judges and audience with a bus system simulator aimed at improving public transport in large African cities and an app that uses sensors to prevent water theft.
“We have seen so many girls showing their IT skills up there. It makes me want to work hard so I can also achieve this.”
A handful of Akilah Information Systems students sat among the audience at the Ms. Geek sessions, watching their peers on stage. For them, Ms. Geek offers inspiration and motivation to work even harder.
“We have seen so many girls showing their IT skills up there. It makes me want to work hard so I can also achieve this. There is so much talk of youth and women in ICT — I want to be part of this,” said Barbara Mulinda, a student in Akilah’s Information Systems program.
“As girls in tech, this is such a good opportunity. For us to get out of the classroom, meet with the industry, and find out what is happening in the tech industry means that we can go back and develop software and systems that match the needs and trends of the industry,” she added.
While there is still a long way to go before women and girls have equal access to opportunities in ICT, the Transform Africa Summit was an encouraging and important step in the right direction to close the digital gender gap.
“Providing educational support in STEM fields is very critical. When young girls and women across the world are exploring educational and professional possibilities in front of them, they are increasingly seeing role models in science and engineering that remind them of themselves.”
If the policies are in place and young girls have role models and opportunities in STEM industries, incredible results can be achieved, said Karen Bartleson, President of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the world’s largest technical professional organization.
“Providing educational support in STEM fields is very critical. When young girls and women across the world are exploring educational and professional possibilities in front of them, they are increasingly seeing role models in science and engineering that remind them of themselves. All of us here today are part of these dynamic role models.”