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In sub-Saharan Africa, women constitute about 30 per cent of the tech professionals. While most females see courses in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), as difficult dreadful, cultural background of African countries has deprived females from competing with their male counterparts in school, a development that has drastically reduced the number of female students taking courses in STEM education, which is the basis for Financial Technology (FinTech) skills. In spite of the setback, few females are making waves in the FinTech industry in Nigeria and in West African countries. In the past five years, West Africa’s tech scene has witnessed a boom, with a dramatic increase in innovators and tech entrepreneurs—aka ‘tech-preneurs’—using technology to provide simple and accessible solutions to everyday problems. From payment services to apps helping people grow their savings and making it easier for Africans to partake in the global scramble for cryptocurrency, West Africa’s tech scene is livelier than ever.
Across the continent, tech hubs have emerged in places such as Egypt, Kenya and South Africa, with Nigeria—Africa’s most populous country, leading the pack. Tech-preneurs in West Africa have been focusing on ensuring that the area’s increase in mobile phone users also translates to a larger number of West Africans having access to easy and inclusive digital-banking solutions. While tech companies are tackling many issues—from making data on Africa accessible and providing health services to revolutionising African fashion—financial technology companies are among the biggest in Nigeria As the financial technology industry reaches new heights, the inclusion and participation of women is not quite where it should be. Only 10 per cent of the West African startups that have cumulatively raised $1 million in the past decade had at least one female co-founder.
In sub-Saharan Africa, women constitute only 30 per cent of professionals in the tech industry. Despite many tech-preneurs stating their mission is to ‘provide inclusive or accessible solutions to everyday problems, it isn’t possible to truly do that when most apps and services are created by men, and the participation of women in their creation is at the background. This report x-rays six women from Nigeria who are rising to new heights in the global-tech industry and they are currently redefining the FinTech space
Odunayo Eweniyi
In 2016, a picture someone shared of a wooden box, used to save money, inspired Eweniyi and her co-founders to create PiggyBank, now known as PiggyVest. Today, she is the CMO of this savings and investments app and also co-founded Feminist Coalition and FirstCheck Africa, an angel fund and community for African women in tech.
In 2014, Eweniyi co-founded PushCV to connect verified employers to pre-screened candidates. She and her team spent two years raising venture funding and worked on several other products that failed. At that time, she worked as editor-in-chief at Techpoint, founding writer at Zikoko!, and then staff writer of Konbini.
According to her, “The lack of women in tech can’t be explained away with innate biological differences. It’s really down to a combination of systemic bias, men funding men and a working culture that excludes women. When women are given an opportunity they excel.”
Yewande Akomolafe-Kalu
With a degree in psychology from Birmingham City University and experience working in the fashion and entertainment industries, today Akomolafe-Kalu is the head of storytelling and branding of Flutterwave, one of Africa’s largest fintech companies.
According to her, “It’s safe to say that the state of the tech industry in Nigeria is advanced and innovative; we’re going above and beyond to provide solutions for everyday people to use and make their lives easier.”
Narrating her journey into the tech space, Akomolafe-Kalu said: “Two people believed in me when I didn’t have faith in myself: one, a friend who recommended me for a role that she couldn’t take, and Olugbenga Agboola, the CEO of Flutterwave whom she introduced me to. Before that, I’d worked in the entertainment space, the fashion industry, for a digital marketing agency and an e-commerce startup.”
Narrating her greatest challenges, she said: “One of the main stumbling blocks is that girls don’t realise tech is an option. We need to demystify the tech industry so people know that it’s an entire ecosystem. We need to be intentional in hiring more women and making them more visible; in presenting them with options; to show them that tech jobs are within reach and that they’re achievable.”
Damilola Odufuwa
As co-founder of the Feminist Coalition, Odufuwa champions equality for women in Nigerian society with a focus on education, financial freedom and representation in public office. These values play out in her role as the lead PR at Binance, of one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency companies.
After completing her masters in international finance and economic development at the University of Kent, she worked in communications and media for years. She interned at Universal Music and MTV Viacom before graduating to editor-in-chief of Zikoko and Konbini, and then took up a position as social producer for CNN Africa. Initially she had no intention to work in tech, but as soon as she realised the impact crypto and blockchain technology can have on women’s rights and freedom, she was self convinced and decided to explore the FinTech industry.
According to her “There’s a lot of misinformation about what types of roles are available in tech—breaking them down will encourage more women to get into the industry. Every day, we interact with technology in a variety of ways and they all present opportunities to make a difference. It doesn’t have to be about coding.”
Eloho Omame
Oman’s is the co-founder of FirstCheck Africa, and a graduate of the London School of Economics, with an MBA from London Business School.
Her first big job was Lagos Innovates, a portfolio of startup support programmes, after she pitched to the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, which they then built. After that, she launched an entrepreneur support organisation called Endeavor before launching FirstCheck Africa with Odunayo Eweniyi in January.”
For her, having more women in leadership roles will attract more women to the top. On the investing side, she had liked to see more venture capital firms admit they have cultural issues that may be off-putting or difficult for women to navigate. She is of the view that Aworkplace policies, entertainment policies and gender-bias training should be on the table for re-evaluation, in other to give women more opportunity in the FinTech space.
According to her, “FirstCheck Africa is built with a mission to advance equity, capital and leadership for a generation of women in Africa through technology and entrepreneurship. We [want to close] the disturbing gender gaps in power, wealth and professional achievement across the continent. In the long-term, we hope FirstCheck Africa will be a platform through which the women in our portfolio pay it forward by helping other women in Africa do the same thing.”
Oluwaseun Runsewe
Runsewe began her career as an analyst before joining Paystack as a business lead. Now the vice president of growth at SoftCom, she is committed to making financial services accessible to everyone, especially single mothers such as herself.
She worked as an analyst for the Big Four consulting firm KPMG advising financial service players on strategy and business planning. She also coordinated an Africa-wide project to move the needle on banking, payments and financial-risk management. In 2016, she was introduced to the CEO of PayStack, a company that helps businesses in Africa get paid by anyone anywhere in the world, and she joined PayStack as a business lead, where she worked and pushed the frontiers of Nigeria’s digital economy.”
She is currently working on a digital bank for mothers. Giving her journey, she said she became a single mother a month after she turned 25 with less than $15 as her personal savings. She then had to figure out how to make and manage money for her son’s future while working in a FinTech company. “My mission is to put the same tools and knowledge that have worked for me in the hands of as many mothers as possible—especially single mothers,” she said.
Adia Sowho
Adia Sowho is the interim CEO of Thrive Agric and non-Executive Director of Hover Developer Services, and has built a reputation for being a problem solver within Nigeria’s business, tech and media space. With a career that spans developing mobile content, technology and financial services, today she is focused on changing the tech culture in Nigeria and inspiring more young women to get into the industry.
According to her, “There are two Nigerias: the Nigeria you hear about [in the news cycle] with its corruption issues, and [the lesser reported] invigorating tech industry with young people coming up with new ways to solve old problems. The two Nigerias bump into each other now and then leading to blowback, I believe the young Nigeria will prevail.”
She has a strong belief that the structure of the tech industry is more receptive to masculine energy than female energy. She is therefore advocating the need to create a more inclusive industry.
According to her, “If a company is looking for a developer, a man can just throw his hat into the ring, whereas a woman has to consider things like the distance of her office from her home and whether she’ll be able to finish work in time to get home before it’s dark.”
Culled from Vogue Magazine
