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TechSis 2023: GetBundi to up-skill 500 African women with coding skills

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2 years ago

GetBundi Education Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of GetBundi Education Technology Limited, has committed to the online training of 500 African women in coding.

The coding courses, which will be at no cost to the participants, are to hold from June 1 to August 31, 2023

According to Mrs Juliet Ijei, course coordinator, GetBundi Education Technology and GetBundi Education Foundation, the coding courses are targeted at bridging the huge gap in digital skills in Africa, particularly among women.

“This programme is particularly important coming at a time when digital skills and tools have become increasingly essential to access services such as health, education, social protection and financial services,” she said.

Tagged “TechSis 2023,” a reversal of the male-dominated industry known as ‘Tech Bros,’ the initiative aims to bridge the digital skill gender inequality in Africa, she explained.

Ijei said that free registration for the coding courses will start on April 24 and end on May 23, 2023 or after the first 500 women must have registered.

On the rationale behind TechSis, Ijei said it was in an effort to give women and girls a better deal in the tech industry dominated by men.

“It will also prepare them to assume their rightful place at the heights of the new economy. The tech industry is no doubt a male-dominated career area across the world and Africa is no exception.

“Research reveals that only 30 percent of African women make up the tech industry, which signifies that they are highly under-represented,” Ijei said.

According to her, despite the overwhelming percentage of women in the African continent, available data reveals that only very few are in the digital and technology space compared to men.

“Women in the tech space make up only about 22 percent of the industry workforce in Nigeria. Bias and stereotypes have continued to pose obstacles to women being properly represented in the technology industry.

“Women often show reluctance to take up tech-related degrees or any tech-related skills, leaving males to dominate many tech companies.

“This implies that women in sub-Saharan Africa have a high risk of missing out on the jobs of the future, with an estimated 230 million jobs in the region requiring digital skills by 2030.

“This female digital exclusion, a phenomenon where women and girls are disproportionately left behind in accessing and using digital technologies and services, is a pervasive problem hindering the realisation of a fully inclusive digital future.

“It is in an effort to bridge this digital divide that GetBundi has offered to train 500 African women, who are 18 and above, to learn coding, a top-demand skill, for free,” Ijei said.

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