Females remain underrepresented in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in African countries, with Nigeria prominent among the countries affected. This is why Technology Distributions Ltd. (TD) has urged young females to embrace the numerous opportunities in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.
This was the focus of ‘This is Me – The Tech Talk’, a talk show organized by the company to celebrate International Girls in ICT Day held at the Zone Tech Park, Gbagada, Lagos on April 25th 2019.
The company brought together over 150 girls from Senior Secondary 2 (SS2) to educate them on self-love and ICT opportunities and future career growth.
Mrs Chioma Chimere, the Coordinating Managing Director of TD stressed that the girl child should pursue careers in ICT because the opportunities are limitless.
“I think the opportunities are already available, because the ICT industry is such that admits its kind, it is attractive. So long as you are mentally prepared for it, then you can harness the opportunities.
“Most times it is not a question of educational qualification. You don’t have to be an Electrical Electronics Engineer or a Computer Engineer to find a career in ICT. I am a graduate of English Language and Literature and I have been in IT for 23 years. Our industry is very dynamic. So any woman who is hard working and dynamic in character would flourish naturally in ICT,” Mrs. Chimere said.
“We decided to talk to these young girls about loving yourself, talks about the perspective of a man, and then we had highly acclaimed CEOs give them stories of their growth from grass to grace. This is so that the girls understand what life is all about, so that they can start young to create values and live by those values,” she added.
On his part, Stanley Okpalaeke, Group Executive Director, Zinox Group, challenged the participants to aspire to be leaders like CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki; Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM, Safra Catz, co-CEO of Oracle and Chioma Ekeh, CEO of Technology Distributions Africa.
“These are all women heading global ICT companies worth billions of dollars and doing very well at it. I believe that we are in a female take-over dispensation and real men are happy about that,” Okpalaeke said.
Also speaking, Ify Afe, Managing Director – West and Central Africa, Hewlett-Packard (HP), said that women must learn to grow each other.
She further urged them not to work in silos, stressing that building healthy relationships with each other will bring about the desired growth.
