Hot startup of the month: Nigeria's She Code Africa

Over 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will require some level of digital skills by 2030. This is according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) report.

With the technological advancements on the continent as well as how rapidly the world is evolving, digital skills are imperative.

Therefore, African countries need to empower their citizens, especially young people with relevant digital skills.

Even though digital transformation is sweeping across continents, Africa is yet to feel much of the impact.

In 2023, the United Nations Women's theme is "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality." It recognizes the women that are leading in transformative technology and digital education.

She Code Africa impacted over 17,000 women and girls across 20 African countries while championing gender diversity in tech. (Source: She Code Africa).

As one of the fastest-growing industries, tech requires more investment and labor to thrive. That is why the role of education technology (edtech) startups like She Code Africa is very important, especially on the African continent.

"She Code Africa is a non-profit organization that is focused on empowering young girls and women in Africa through technical skills," said She Code Africa Operational Lead Jesulayomi Babalola in an interview with Connecting Africa.

Founded by Ada Nduka Oyom in 2016, the organization has since impacted over 17,000 women and girls across 20 African countries while championing gender diversity in tech, Babalola continued.

"At the end of the day our goal is to see an Africa where women are represented in all career roles," she said.

She Code Africa's ins and outs

She Code Africa provides support through offline and online communities with programs and initiatives that keep students engaged.

Furthermore, the startup connects women in tech with a wide network of resources as well as mentors.

"Through our mentorship program, we measure and monitor our student's growth through regular check-ins to ensure they are hitting their personal and career goals," Babalola added.

Thanks to the mentors available on She Code Africa's community platform under the mentorship program, students are able to get help and guidance in their learning journey or career field whenever they need it.

"We also provide network and meetups with other women in tech in Africa who have walked or are walking in the same path as you are and can relate with your experience while helping you on your journey," she said.

She Code Africa programs

Babalola said She Code Africa's programs are specifically designed to empower young African girls and women in tech with the technical and career skills needed to scale in their fields.

These programs include Open Source Programs which are created to help introduce and get more women actively building and contributing to Open source, within Africa and across the globe, which in turn, helps promotes gender diversity within the Open Source Ecosystem.

"Another program is our Cloud Programs which offers a variety of learning initiatives and boot camps targeted at getting more African women into the Cloud Engineering Space, starting with our cohorts' three-month Cloud School bootcamp," she added.

"We also offer a Junior and High School program which is specially created for young girls across junior and high schools to stimulate and nurture their interests in STEM early in their learning journey," Babalola explained.

She Code Africa Chapters

"Our mission is to build a community which embodies technical growth, networking, mentorship and visibility among all levels and career roles in technology," she said.

In doing so, She Code Africa has increased its reach by creating what it calls chapters, which are branches of the organization in over 20 countries on the African continent.

She Code Africa provides support through offline and online communities with programs and initiatives that keep students engaged. (Source: She Code Africa).

One such Chapter is the She Code Africa Abuja Chapter, which is led by Ofonime Brown.

Brown said she got into tech because she wanted to remove the stereotype that only men can be involved in tech.

"I wanted to be part of the women that were showing young women that they can work in tech and they can even enjoy it," Brown explained.

She Code Africa partnerships

The organization strives on the collaborations that it has been involved in over the years. It recently partnered with ride-hailing company Bolt to further empower women in tech.

According to Oyom, the partnership will see Bolt train She 'Codians' in tech to be even more relevant in the tech-driven world. The opportunity will be open to women in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.

"As of 2022 women held only 26.7% of technology jobs, that is a huge imbalance that we are determined to rectify," the founder said at the announcement of the partnership.

"At She Code Africa, we strongly believe in the potential of strong, ambitious women in tech and that is why we are teaming up with Bolt to actively work towards a more inclusive and diverse future," she continued.

*Top image is of She Code Africa Founder Ada Nduka Oyom. (Source: She Code Africa).

— Matshepo Sehloho, Associate Editor, Connecting Africa