Opening the tech sector to Africa’s women

Given enduring gender gaps in African education, extra attention must be devoted to ensure that girls are not left behind.

From Women in Tech conferences to Girls Who Code programmes, initiatives aimed at enabling girls and women to enter the so-called STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) have proliferated in recent years. But change has been slow to arrive: while the percentage of women in the labour force has gradually increased, it remains significantly lower in the tech sector. Given that sector’s central role in driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution, this amounts to a major drain on economies’ potential.