10 African Women who Are Calling the Shots in Tech

It is quite interesting to think that there was a time, in a not-so-distant-past, when women hardly studied any courses in engineering and technology. But the world has since changed to a point where women are  now breaking grounds in the technology space, just as they do in other sectors. Africa is not left behind in this regard.

In this article, we shall look briefly at some of the African women who have earned their place in tech and are now calling the shots.  Enjoy the read.

Nneile Nkholise, Founder and CEO of iMED

Nneile Nkholise is a young South African woman carving her path in tech. In 2015, while studying for her MEng in Mechanical Engineering at Central University of Technology, she established iMED Tech Group to provide innovative medical solutions across the continent. This iMed Tech Group was a product of her Masters’ research topic which focused on the application of Additive Manufacturing, to create facial prosthesis primarily for people who lost their facial features due to cancer.

Using her experience in 3D printing applications in the medical field, she applied the 3-D technology in developing custom-made products.

31-year old Nkholise is a Harambean, a member of a group championing innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa. She has won the SAB Foundation Social Innovation Award, and was chosen to be one of the 100 entrepreneurs selected to represent their countries at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in 2016.

She was ranked 13 in the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 Technology List for 2018, where she was voted the top female innovator.

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June Syowia, Founder and CEO of Beiless Group

25 year old June-Syowia is the founder and CEO of Beiless Group Limited, a digital marketing firm based in Nairobi.

Her interest in technology and digital advertising started during a Google digital session while in her undergraduate classes. Eager to try out her hands on what she had learnt, she bought a laptop and started offering free marketing services such as online media campaigns, social media management, strategic online communication, digital advertising and content creation to her friends.

Her creativity and growth in this venture soon gained a lot of attention and recognition. June Syowia received the founder of the year award nomination by The Founder Kenya in 2016, and was named one of the 100 Most Influential Young Kenyans in the same year. She is a recipient of Business Daily Top 40 Under 40 2015 award and in 2017, was named one of 100 Brightest Young Minds (BYM) in Africa by BYM Africa, and won the Global Student Entrepreneur Award in Kenya. 

Odunayo Eweniyi, Co-founder of PiggyVest Nigeria

Odunayo Eweniyi, is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of foremost digital savings and investment platform, PiggyVest. 

A graduate of Computer Engineering, Odunayo first started CV Flash (later known as Push CV), before deciding in 2015 to launch PiggyVest in response to a perceived need for an automated savings platform in Nigeria. Since then, the fintech startup has helped save billions of naira that might have been carelessly spent, thus remolding users’ savings culture…

EDITOR’S NOTE: You may read the rest of the profile on page 42 of our 50 Most Influential Women in Business edition. Download it by following this link.