Tech in Africa
Huawei South Africa, Deloitte, Cisco SA, GirlCode South Africa, and many others marked the International Girls in ICT Day. Their efforts are aimed at securing the future of female leaders in the field of ICT through training, offering support, and promoting women in ICT.
In a Twitter post, Huawei SA shared, “#Huawei celebrates International #GirlsinICT Day,” The company also pointed out the need to support women tech students, build awareness of the digital gender gap, drive education & skills training while encouraging young women to pursue STEM-related careers.
#Huawei celebrates International #GirlsinICT Day, underlining the need to support women tech students, build awareness of the digital gender gap, drive education & skills training, and encourage more young women to pursue careers in STEM. #HuaweiFacts https://t.co/gOIJvMDl0l
— Huawei APAC (@HuaweiAPAC) April 23, 2021
GirlCode marked #GirlsInICTDay by hosting 50 girls for a career day where they showcased amazing tech in use in today’s industry.
We are celebrating #GirlsInICTDay with @Deloitte , @MictSeta and our venue sponsors @GEN22OnSloane by hosting 50 girls for a career day with @rsonline_SA showcasing some of the amazing tech being used in the industry. pic.twitter.com/sOLGO2XXE8
— GirlCode👩💻 (@GirlCode_za) April 23, 2021
Cisco marked the day by inviting 25 young girls to their offices in Johannesburg, their fourth year of participation.
This year’s International Girls in ICT Day saw @Cisco_SA invite 25 young girls to their Johannesburg offices http://t.co/bHTG5H3bgo
— TechSmart Business (@TechSmartBiz) April 24, 2015
The world just celebrated a decade of International Girls in ICT Day on April 22 where many organizations pledged to empower more women into joining the ICT sector. International Girls in ICT Day is part of the International Telecommunication Union, which works to build awareness on the gender digital divide that supports technology education and skills training while encouraging young girls and women to pursue STEM-related fields.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, only 21.4% of women seat on the boards of South African companies. A study by Women in Tech SA shows that only 23% of tech jobs across the country are held by women (56,000 of 236,000). Looking into greater detail, women earn 20-25% less than their male counterparts – in line with the international gender gap disparity.
Speaking at the 64th anniversary of Women’s Day, President Cyril Ramaphosa affirmed his government’s responsibility to provide economic opportunities that empower women by creating an enabling environment. The government is actively pursuing 40% public procurement of goods and services through public utilities to be allocated to women-owned businesses.
Today is the International Girls in #ICT Day, so let's call for #GenderEquality in information and communications technology (ICT) together! #GirlsinICT pic.twitter.com/qprOmW23Vm
— UN Global Pulse (@UNGlobalPulse) April 22, 2021
