LEADERSHIP

Photo by Polina Kovaleva

MENTHER LEADERSHIP

WOMEN ARE EQUALLY CAPABLE

God has blessed a woman with an innate gift to work hard, assimilate and prosper in what she does.

In every corner of the planet, women are constantly facing discrimination. History tells us that women are repetitively having to prove their value, worth, abilities and capabilities and in most cases they are never even given the platform to perform. They are discriminated against or forced into silence. Why this is so, no one can ever really answer. But there is one proof that even pre-BC, women have been extremely resilient, industrious, innovative and creative. Proverbs 31 establishes that God has blessed a woman with an innate gift to work hard, assimilate and prosper in what she does. A woman has true grit in the face of adversity and beauty flows from the works of her hands. Proverbs 31 states that; She is like a merchant’s ship bringing her wool from afar. She is energetic, strong and a hard worker.

She considers a field and buys it. Her hands are busy spinning thread and her fingers twisting fiber. What a woman puts her mind to, she will work at it and prosper. We live in a society that is very divided and women are always the ones who are constantly on the receiving end of being sidelined in many sectors, and the tech industry is one of them. Cultural divides, religious beliefs, poverty, gender discrimination, gender stereotypes, literacy and growing exponentially is genderbased violence, are forcing women to be left behind as the global workforce increasingly uses digital tools in many sectors. Lin Taylor from Thomson Reuters Foundation said that the so-called “digital divide” has traditionally referred to the gap between those who have access to computers and the internet, and those with limited or no access. Africa is increasingly showing a high gender education inequality and the gap in SubSaharan African is said to get worse. According to UNESCO, across the African region, 9 million girls between the ages of about 6 and 11 will never go to school at all, compared to 6 million boys. Their disadvantage starts early; 23% of girls are out of primary school compared to 19% of boys. By the time they become adolescents, the exclusion rate for girls is 36% compared to 32% for boys. When we look at the alarming statistics, add to that the lack of access to technology, it seems as though the war has been lost for women before it has even begun. However, we have to look up to see the rainbow and not bow our heads in despair and accept defeat. There are many women who are making strides in the tech industry with the many challenges thrown at them and its time we support them, learn from them and grow with them.

Some of these celebrated African women in the technology space are;

Odunayo Eweniyi(Nigeria), Blessing Abeng(Nigeria), Rebecca Enonchong(Cameroon), Maya Horgan Famodu(Nigeria), Judith Owigar(Kenya), Yanmo Omoregbe (Nigeria), Nneile Nkholise(South Africa), Zandile Keebine(South Africa), Betelhem Dessie(Ethiopia), and Fara Ashiru Jituboh(Nigeria).

What makes these women stand out? What has made

them successful? Their tenacity and the will to push through in an industry that is dominated by men. The hunger and drive to succeed regardless of the difficulties. I set out to find women in my network and in the streets of Johannesburg’s northern suburbs to better understand how they use technology to shape their future either as home executives (a.k.a stay-at-home-mom), professionals, athletes, teachers, street vendors, hair salon owners, church elders, NGO CEOs, social-media influencers, tertiary students, unemployed graduate, gardeners and home renovations, electrical maintenance or even a beekeeper like myself. All these women, regardless of how big or small their businesses were, agreed that in the past 3 years, their reliance on technology has grown and so has their need to understand and learn more about technology and how it can be a tool and a solution to grow their business and expand their reach. It’s definitely important for them to know the advantages that technology has in their businesses. Most have agreed to experiencing positive results from spending more time using the many technological gadgets or tools available in the market.

These were some of the results they had in common:

1Access to the latest information and other tools to be able to work better.

2They have increased their staff complement, because productivity has gone up.

3They have been able to train their staff and work better as a team because everyone is showing a willingness to learn and they see the positive difference in their self-confidence.

4There has been a shift in what women are now capable of doing and how they are advancing especially in the film industry. Women doing what they never studied nor specialized in, yet are excelling at it.

5They have more reach outside of their immediate customers and are expanding their network.

6Expanding their product and service offering and finding new ways to repurpose waste and redesign some elements.

7One person said: “Another man’s trash is a woman’s treasure”. Women making furniture and light fixtures and looking at introducing a new line of apparel and luggage through use of technology of turning waste into clothing and bags.

Knowing which tools to use and how to use those tools is important and this has been supported by:

1. Online training and Online meetings thus acquiring new clients. 2. The ability to pull research and articles immediately. 3. Saving time reaching more audience - there is no driving around especially if transport is an issue. 4. Increase speed at which work is done and saving on fuel especially in the wake of sustainability and global change. 5. Reaching doctors and getting assessed online by specialists. 6. Everything is instant. 7. By being able to separate the good from the bad, one doesn’t waste time travelling and meeting people and businesses you don’t need. You select what you need and you can select the relevancy to your particular sector and interest. 8. Always use technology for good, because it can also hold your business back if you are not familiar or don’t have enough information. There are many scammers in the cyber world praying on innocent victims. If skills, aptitude, and security systems are not available it could severely hurt individuals, corporates and organisations. 9. Application derivatives can be implemented to cater to different needs in terms of sourcing, marketing, training, financial management, education, and sports. Most of these technologies require funding and knowing which systems application is suitable and best serve the needs of the individual, business and organisation is imperative. 10. Technology should be used in a sustainable manner that does not harm the environment, people, flora and animals. 11. Technology has increased the competitiveness in all industries. No one is operating in a “closed economy”, because the reach and the availability of information, products and services is on a grand scale. Customers and consumers are becoming more and better educated from the products that are sold, the quality, value and cost.

As women we need to keep advancing the education of women and girls alike. Women can no longer be sidelined and given ‘soft tasks’, because “that’s what they can handle”. When the right tool is given to a woman, she will use it to build a society – and those around her will benefit.