African Women In Tech Sharing Their Knowledge & Encouraging Fellow Women

African Women In Tech Sharing Their Knowledge & Encouraging Fellow Women

On August 2^nd, 2014 a group of smart African women will be hosting a virtual event that will act as a platform for sharing science and technology skills and experiences among African women. Dubbed the Women In Tech Africa Virtual Meetup (#WTechAfrica) the First Pan African Women in Tech meetup. The event is expected to spark more interest in STEM in more women across Africa and build up a professional network of women that can provide the support network to encourage young and upcoming female techpreneurs in the male dominated industry.

Today, Innov8tiv takes a look at the professional background of the innovative women who came up with this promising idea. The following is a snippet biography of the five innovative women behind the First Pan African Women in Tech:

Ethel Delali Cofie: She is a seasoned Product Manager/Technical Solutions provider to businesses seeking to benefit from the integration of technology into their operations. Thus achieving efficiency in their efforts in providing their customers with quality products and services while making profit. She studied Msc Distributed Systems at Brighton University (UK) between 2006-2007, 2007-2010 she worked as a Business and Systems Analyst with RDF Solutions (UK).

In 2009, she founded the BarCamp Africa UK. In 2010, she worked at Mobile Technology for Health project in Ghana, (funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) where she served as a Technology Consultant Analyst. She was also the Technical Consulting Head, for Ford Foundation Funded project for the crowd sourcing Nigerian election data. In the same year, she served as a Technical Consultant for Dream Perfect in Sierra Leone that works on Mobile Technology Solutions. In 2011-2014, she was the Commercial Solutions Manager in charge of a team of technical and business analyst for Vodafone in Ghana. In 2013, she was a coach/judge at the Start-up weekend. The same year she also served as a member to the Board of Advisers for Chillax, a start-up that won the Startup Weekend and launched on February 14^th, 2014. You can read more about Ethel by following this link.

Akaliza Keza Gara: She undertook BSc Multimedia Technology and Design at the University of Kent between 2005-2008. In 2007, she was the Web Programmer for World ICT Magazine (UK), 2006-2008 she served as Website Consultant & Database Administrator. 2007-2008 she served as the Webmaster for Christian Performing Arts Society. In 2009, she was the Website Consultant for Public Sector Capacity Building Secretariat.

In 2010, she was the Website Consultant for the School of Finance and Banking (SFB). In 2011, she served as the Website Consultant for the Ministry in the Office of the President (Rwanda) in charge of ICT. In 2010-2011 she served as the Website Consultant for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (Rwanda). 2013-2014 she served as the Animator for African Tales for The Mediae Company. 2010 to present she is the Founder and MD of Shaking Sun. She is also the MD for Yambi Animation Studios. For more information about Akaliza follow this link.

Barbara Birungi: She earned her Business Computing degree from Makerere University, between 2005-2008, 2010-2011, undertook Postgrad, Project Planning and Management at Uganda Management Institute. She has also featured in several publications including, BBC’s “African women must use tech to change business” and UNESCO’ journal “A World of Science.”

In 2005-2077, she served as Admin Assistant for Watoto Church. Between 2009-2011, she served as the Country Manager for Appfrica Labs. In 2010 to present, she co-founded Hive Colab and currently serves as the Director, in 2011 she founded the Women In Technology Uganda (WITU). In 2014, she served as a Board Chair at AfriLabs Foundation. To read more about Barbara follow this link.

Ethel (Ella) Mbewe: She holds a Diploma in Computer Studies from Evelyn Hone College, and she is currently pursuing BSc Computer Science in the University of Greenwich. In 2011, she was a Mobil app Developer for BongoHive, she also interned as an ICT Technician at VVOB.

In 2012 to 2013 she was an IT Help Desk Technician at World Vision Zambia, 2012-2013 she was the ICT Mobile Application Consultant for World Vision Zambia. 2013 to present she serves as Sponsorship Datashare Team Leader for World Vision. She is also the Co-founder of Asikana Network. She also featured on MightyAfrican Blogspot list of the 11 young African leaders to know about. She is best known for Android mobile development, web designing, project management and team leadership. For more information on Ethel follow this link.

Chisenga Muyoya: 2009-2010 she undertook BSc Computer Science from the University of Greenwich. 2012-2014 MSc Candidate, Information Systems Management. Her professional experience includes: working as Database Consultant for Niras Zambia in 2008, Lead Database Consultant for Niras Zambia in 2010, Software Developer/Support Technician for MicroPos Zambia in 2010, Lead Web and App Developer for Digital Fingers Systems in 2010-2012 and Software Developer for SmartCare Project (Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation & CDC Zambia) from 2012 to present. She is also a Co-Founder of Asikana Network. For more details on Chisenga follow this link.

The above mentioned women are out on a mission, to encourage more women to join the world of science and technology. So make it a point to join them for their virtual event, Women In Tech Africa Virtual Meetup #WTechAfrica that will be running online on August 2^nd, 2014. To join them, register yourself by following this link.