Social media giant, Facebook, held a Women in Tech event and a Developers Circles Masterclass in Kenya’s capital Nairobi this week. The event brought together some of the top developers (and/or) female techies in the region.
The Developer Circle was among other things, an evening of networking. The Developer Masterclass had 25 Developer Circle leads from various regions in Africa who came for an intensive, three days training course.
The attendees delved into Facebook technologies and discussed various platform products that were aimed at enhancing the ecosystem. In both the two events, developers (devs) had the opportunity to connect, share ideas, learn new things, and collaborate with one another.
Facebook’s Head of Platform Partnerships for Middles East and Africa, Emeka Afigbo, said, “We want to use our technology and platforms to work with people who want to become entrepreneurs and to build products that can help engage and empower communities. Events like the Platform meetup are examples of activities we’re doing on the ground to empower startups and developers to take their businesses to the next level.”
The Women in Tech event brought together influential women working within the tech ecosystems in Nairobi. Facebook has a long-standing mission to bring about gender diversity in the tech ecosystem, and this Women in Tech event was aimed at engaging already established women in the fields of engineering, academics, and founders to foster more gender diversity.
“We are passionate about diversity in our business, we believe it’s the key to unlocking creative thinking and prosperity for all,” said Nunu Ntshingila, the Regional Director of Facebook Africa. “Women make up to over a half of the population, yet they are under-represented in technology and business, and events like this are about changing that picture.”
Some of the influential women who made up the panelist at this Women in Tech event include:
Shikoh Gitau – Head of Products Innovation at Safaricom
Angela Muigai – Head of product for BRCK
Teresa Mbagaya – Microsoft’ education lead in East and Southern Africa.
Some of the talks discussed at the event include the strides Kenya has made in the tech ecosystem. The women also offered some pro tips to the young women whose careers are just budding in the tech space.
