Meet the Entrepreneurs
Akirachix January 2014
Mobile Innovation
akirachix
Inspiring young women in technology by creating a powerful network across Africa Judith Owigar, President and Operations Director, Kenya
CHALLENGE Although women represent more than half of the world’s workforce, they are often under-represented in the formal workplace. Some sectors are experiencing significant gender gaps, ICT being one of the most prominent examples. In Kenya, only 15% of the working force in ICT are women. This can be explained by difficulties related to acquiring the education and training necessary to develop an appropriate skill set, but also by misconceptions and lack of information on what the sector is about. Women earning low incomes in particular have far fewer opportunities to enter the technological sector as they mostly settle into jobs in informal economies with low prospects for advancing in a professional career.
“WE CAN CHANGE THE IMAGE OF AFRICA BY INCREASING THE NUMBER OF WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY.”
CONTACT INFORMATION Nairobi, Kenya
+254 60 529876, +254 94 515189 jowigar@akirachix.com
www.akirachix.com /AkiraChix
@akirachix
BUSINESS MODEL Akirachix is a social startup. Formed by a core team of eight entrepreneurs (7 women and 1 man), it develops its work with the support of a large number of volunteers (usually former recipients of training courses) who provide mentoring to new students. It has also developed a strong network of key partners such as iHub, Google Rise, Computer Aid, Seneca Group, and infoDev, who support the organization in a number of ways. Akirachix originally benefited from an infoDev grant and a sponsorship from Google Rise, and the startup still mainly relies on grants and external support. Each training program has a series of different sponsors. However, Akirachix is planning to diversify its income by charging event and training participants and by offering consulting services.
IDEA Judith Owigar, together with three other women, Linda Kamau, Angela Oduor, and Marie Githinji, formed Akirachix in 2011 with the goal of promoting a new female ICT workforce in Africa. The project also aims to be socially inclusive by bringing access to technology and entrepreneurship to the most disadvantaged. To reach this goal, the team has developed a series of workshops offered in Nairobi slums. They have created activities in partnership with the academic, public, and private sectors as well as with civil society organizations. Akirachix, which stands for energetic and intellectual women, offers a number of workshops on basic skills development and interdisciplinary trainings to Kenyan women. These are complemented with a wide range of networking events, such as Mobile Garage and Girls in ICT Day, where professional women in ICT are invited to encourage young girls to consider a career in the sector.
“AKIRA IS A JAPANESE WORD MEANING ENERGY AND INTELLIGENCE. AKIRACHIX STANDS FOR ENERGETIC AND INTELLECTUAL WOMEN.” www.infodev.org
twitter: @infoDev