Economy

Tech4Dev, Microsoft to Empower 10,000 Women

Published

5 years ago

11/03/2021

By Adedapo Adesanya

To mark this year’s International Women’s Day, Tech4Dev has partnered with Microsoft to launch its Women Techsters Initiative to empower 10,000 women in tech from Nigeria and four other African countries.

The initiative is aimed at bridging the vast digital divide between men and women in the technology ecosystem and to change the narrative of skewed gender numbers in technology by empowering women with digital and deep tech skills and opportunities to pursue careers and interests in technology.

According to the e-Conomy Africa 2020 Report by IFC, Africa’s technology industry has an average of 8:2 men to women ratio. These numbers reflect urban cities, and the statistics for women further reduce in suburban and rural areas across the continent.

Hence, there is a large need for gender parity and inclusivity in the technology space with numbers showing that having women effectively engaged in the labour force can potentially boost a nation’s annual GDP by as much as 70 per cent.

As a foundation, having more women in tech was the backbone behind the Women Techster’s pilot program.

The Nigerian Women Techsters, held in partnership with Microsoft, GIZ and other partners, enabled over 2400 women between the ages of 16-40 across 12 states in Nigeria to pursue careers in tech, start technology or tech-enabled businesses and to study STEM at an advanced level.

During the event, Tech4Dev launched the Women Techsters initiative, a renewed vision and dream to empower 5 million women with digital and deep tech skills across Africa by 2030.

This year alone, the initiative will impact 10,000 women across 5 African countries – Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya and Ghana.

Speaking at the launch, in her opening address, the Regional Director for Middle East and Africa, Microsoft Philanthropies, Mrs Ghada Khalifa, stressed the importance of empowering women with digital skills to become active players in ICT and how this inclusion can have a direct impact on the economy.

She said, “When we empower girls and women in the ICT industry through greater access to skills and training, we unlock not only innovation but also economic opportunities.”

On her part, Mrs Diwura Oladepo, the Executive Director of Tech4Dev, spoke about the objective behind the Women Techsters initiative. She noted that it will provide the prerequisite knowledge and insight needed to enable girls and women interested in careers in technology to access the right learning opportunities, gain access to decent jobs within the technology ecosystem and to empower them with the right skills needed to create, grow and scale their technology-enabled businesses and deep tech startups.

In her words, “it is crucial to ensure that women are actively engaged in technology as this helps to financially empower them, effectively improve the economic realities of women and the countries at large, eliminate biases in technology research and improve overall productivity and efficiency of the technology ecosystem.

“Through the Women Techsters, we choose to challenge the status quo – that women can’t be active contributors and partakers in technology.”

In a panel session moderated by Akin Banuso, the Microsoft Country Manager for Nigeria, with the panellists; Mirna Arif, Lilian Barnard and Kendi Ntwiga-Nderitu (Country Managers for Egypt, South Africa and Kenya, respectively) explored the inclusivity of women in the tech industry and STEM fields as a whole.

Speaking on the gender disparity in the tech ecosystem, Ms Lilian Barnard, Microsoft Country Manager, South Africa, reiterated that people only dream as far as their eyes can see.

“Women don’t have access to programs that would equip them with digital skills relevant to the tech world. We are glad that organisations like Tech4Dev are taking it upon themselves to hold programs, seminars and events that enlighten, educate and inspire women to take up tech careers.”

As for Mrs Kendi Ntwiga-Nderitu, Microsoft Country Manager, South Africa, she encouraged women to push for a better future.

She said, “Traditionally, women have been and are known to be naturalists in society, whether it is in bringing communities together or playing roles to foster growth.

“For women to keep on playing these roles in the 21st century, a world that is tech-inclined, means we have a very significant role to play in the growth and development of our society.”

In the same vein, Ms Mirna Arif, Microsoft Country Manager, Egypt, encouraged women to ensure that they put in place plans to grow, challenge the status quo and speak up to pave the way for other women to have seats at the table.

Economy

NASD Exchange Extends Bearish Run After 0.56% Drop

Published

3 days ago

03/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the south territory with a decline of 0.56 per cent on Wednesday, April 2.

This brought down the market capitalisation by N13 billion to N2.417 trillion from N2.430 trillion, and downed the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 22.57 points to 4,062.87 points from the previous session’s 4,062.87 points.

It was observed that the NASD exchange ended with three price gainers and three price losers during the trading day.

MRS Oil Plc depreciated by N19.00 to close at N171.00 per unit compared with the previous price of N190.00 per unit, NASD Plc lost N4.14 to trade at N37.36 per share compared with Wednesday’s N41.50 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gave up N2.00 to sell at N78.00 per unit versus N80.00 per unit.

On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by 19 Kobo to N93.00 per share from N92.81 per share, Food Concepts Plc expanded by 15 Kobo to N2.87 per unit from N2.72 per unit, and Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc improved by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share.

Yesterday, the volume of securities dipped by 91.8 per cent to 260.2 million units from 3.2 billion units, the value of securities went down by 98.1 per cent to N154.2 million from N8.3 billion, while the number of deals soared by 53.3 per cent to 46 deals from 30 deals.

GNI Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 56.9 million units valued at N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.

The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.2 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.

Economy

Naira Slips to N1,380/$1 at Official Market, Remains N1,405/$1 at Black Market

Published

3 days ago

03/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira dropped N2.09 or 0.15 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, April 2, to trade at N1,380.79/$1 compared with Wednesday’s rate of N1,378.70/$1.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.77 to quote at N1,824.86/£1 versus the N1,836.57/£1 it was traded at midweek, and improved its value against the Euro by N10.54 to N1,591.92/€1 from N1,602.46/€1.

Yesterday was the last trading session of the week for the local currency in the spot market, as the market will be closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter Holiday.

At the black market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the greenback yesterday at N1,405/$1, but gained N8 at the GTBank FX counter to settle at N1,388/$1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,396/$1.

Pressure eased on the domestic currency as strong policy indicators have helped calm the majority of worries within the financial systems. Particularly in the remittance segment, the apex bank has directed all International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to route remittance transactions through designated Naira settlement accounts in banks, a move aimed at boosting transparency and channelling more foreign exchange into the formal market.

This helps take off pressure from the foreign reserves, which have fallen below the $50 billion mark as they are gradually decreasing rather than falling sharply.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Thursday, as macro sentiment shifted against recent optimism after reports that Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns about disruptions to a key global oil route.

The remarks came after U.S. President Trump on Wednesday night vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks and that the Strait of Hormuz would “open naturally” once the war ends.

Cardano (ADA) chalked up 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.2435, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.2 per cent to $0.0912, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $2,066.37, Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.5 per cent to sell at $67,080.53, Solana (SOL) increased by 0.5 per cent to $79.91, and Ripple (XRP) jumped 0.2 per cent to $1.31.

Conversely, Binance Coin (BNB) dipped 0.7 per cent to $586.90, and TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3147, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.

Economy

Bulls, Bears Share Customs Street’s Spoils Amid Bullish Investor Sentiment

Published

3 days ago

03/04/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The local stock market was relatively flat on Friday, as the bears and the bulls shared the spoils of war, though investor sentiment turned bullish compared with the preceding session’s bearish posture.

Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was marginally down by 4.66 points as it ended at 201,698.89 points versus Wednesday’s 201,703.55 points, and the market capitalisation slightly contracted by N3 billion to N129.806 trillion from N129.809 trillion.

Customs Street was shut on Friday because of the public holidays declared by the federal government today and next Monday.

Business Post reports that John Holt declined by 9.91 per cent to N15.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank shed 9.60 per cent to trade at N8.95, International Energy Insurance slipped by 6.48 per cent to N3.32, Chams shrank by 5.30 per cent to N3.75, and Tantalizers depreciated by 5.18 per cent to N4.03.

On the flip side, Unilever Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N103.40, Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.82 per cent to trade at N1.23, Multiverse appreciated 9.81 per cent to N20.15, Legend Internet advanced by 9.38 per cent to N6.30, and Zichis grew by 9.02 per cent to N14.14.

The market breadth index was positive during the trading session, as there were 35 appreciating stocks and 24 depreciating stocks.

Yesterday, investors traded 560.0 million equities valued at N19.3 billion in 49,676 deals, in contrast to the 815.5 million equities worth N33.3 billion transacted in 52,641 deals in the preceding day, representing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 31.33 per cent, 42.04 per cent, and 5.63 per cent, respectively.

Secure Electronic Technology dominated the activity log with 59.7 million shares valued at N61.1 million, Wema Bank exchanged 52.0 million equities worth N1.4 billion, VFD Group transacted 36.0 million stocks for N410.5 million, Access Holdings sold 35.3 million shares valued at N914.8 million, and Chams traded 31.0 million equities worth N115.0 million.