Hundreds Gather To Devise Solutions For Africa's Growing Digital Gender Gap
Over 250 of Africa’s leading technology innovators will gather October 9-11 in Accra, Ghana for the second Africa Summit on Women and Girls in Technology. The Summit — which comes at a crucial point in time when the world is set to reach 50% connectivity — aims to design solutions that will enable millions of African women and girls to benefit from access to technology and use their skills to build a better Africa for all.
The three-day event will feature lightning talks from young African female technologists, as well as high-level discussions with many of Africa’s most prominent ICT policymakers and technology leaders today, including: Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications, Ghana; Dr Omobola Johnson, former Nigerian Minister of Communication Technology; Bitilokho Ndiaye, Gender Technical Advisor at Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications, Posts and Digital Economy, Senegal; and many others.
Bridging the digital gender gap is a critical step toward the vision of a thriving Africa — yet research has shown that women in some communities are up to 50% less likely than men to be online. In Africa, where nearly 75% of the population remains offline, this problem is particularly acute. The Summit will explore a range of relevant topic areas, with a focus on developing policy to advance:
â— Access to affordable broadband
â— Women's rights online
â— Digital education and skills
â— Digital entrepreneurship
The 2018 Africa Summit on Women and Girls in Technology is a collaboration between the World Wide Web Foundation, Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), Ghana Ministry of Communications, African Development Bank, Open Society Initiative for West Africa, Internet Society, Facebook, Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (Germany), Google, Swedish International Development Agency and UN Women. All places at the event have been filled, but those unable to attend in person may follow online through the hashtag #TechWomenAfrica.