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

FrieslandCampina Wamco, Three Others Raise NASD OTC Exchange by 1.41%

Published

9 hours ago

16/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed higher by 1.41 per cent on Friday, May 15, supported by four securities on the platform.

During the session, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc added N14.24 to its share price to sell for N159.00 per unit, in contrast to the previous day’s N144.76 per unit.

Further, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N1.34 to N72.34 per share from N71.00 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc improved its price by 4 Kobo to N2.94 per unit from N2.90 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc gained 1 Kobo to trade at 61 Kobo per share compared with Thursday’s closing price of 60 Kobo per share.

As a result, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 58.20 points to 4,188.41 points from 4,130.21 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N34.82 billion to N2.506 trillion from N2.471 trillion on Thursday.

During the session, the volume of trades went up by 180.8 per cent to 1.2 million units from 417,349 units, and the value of transactions increased by 29.8 per cent to N29.8 million from N23.2 million, while the number of deals fell by 22.6 per cent to 24 deals from 31 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.8 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.9 million units valued at N1.9 billion.

GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.

Economy

Profit-taking Sinks Nigeria’s Equity Market by 0.76% as Bears Take Control

Published

9 hours ago

16/05/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The bears overpowered the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday, sinking it further by 0.76 per cent when the closing gong was struck by 4 pm.

The nation’s flagship equity market was under selling pressure during the session, as investors booked profits after the shares witnessed price appreciation in the past trading sessions.

The energy sector was the most impacted, as it shed 4.43 per cent. The consumer goods index declined by 0.90 per cent, the banking counter decreased by 0.15 per cent, and the industrial goods sector lost 0.08 per cent, while the insurance counter gained 2.42 per cent, which was not enough to salvage the situation.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,912.19 points to 250,330.92 points from 252,243.11 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by 1.225 trillion to N160.444 trillion from N161.669 trillion.

Zichis was the worst-performing stock for the session after it gave up 9.97 per cent to close at N29.43, FTN Cocoa slipped by 9.95 per cent to N8.96, The Initiates slumped by 9.90 per cent to N32.30, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank tumbled by 9.88 per cent to N3.83, and International Energy Insurance dropped 9.71 per cent to trade at N2.79.

The best-performing stock was ABC Transport, which grew by 10.00 per cent to N6.27. May and Baker also appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N47.30, SCOA Nigeria surged by 9.98 per cent to N33.05, Trans-Nationwide Express expanded by 9.97 per cent to N7.06, and DAAR Communications jumped 9.76 per cent to N2.25.

Yesterday, investors traded 1.1 billion shares worth N44.3 billion in 65,744 deals compared with the 1.0 billion shares valued at N41.6 billion transacted in 74,822 deals a day earlier. This indicated a dip in the number of deals by 12.13 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 10.00 per cent and 6.49 per cent, respectively.

Chams was the busiest equity for the day, with 328.5 million units sold for N1.1 billion. UBA traded 61.6 million units worth N2.7 billion, First Holdco transacted 58.7 million units valued at N4.2 billion, Secure Electronic Technology exchanged 51.9 million units worth N45.0 million, and Access Holdings traded 51.8 million units valued at N1.3 billion.

Economy

Naira Weakens to N1,371/$1 at Official Market

Published

10 hours ago

16/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The last trading session of the week at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) ended on a negative note for the Naira on Friday, May 15, as it lost N15 Kobo or 0.1 per cent against the Dollar to trade at N1,371.04/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,370.89/$1.

However, it further appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N20.77 to close at N1,830.61/£1 versus Thursday’s value of N1,851.38/£1, and gained N7.91 against the Euro to settle at N1,595.07/€1 versus N1,602.98/€1.

At the GTBank FX desk, the Naira lost N2 against the US Dollar during the session to sell at N1,383/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,381/$1, and at the black market, it remained unchanged at N1,385/$1.

The Naira is forecast to be broadly stable, supported by Dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) amid steady, higher oil receipts, with the ‌market settling ⁠into a balance.

Policy direction is also expected to give the market some boost as the CBN said the new edition of the FX market guidelines will deepen liquidity, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in the country’s foreign exchange market.

According to the Governor of the CBN, Mr Yemi Cardoso, the update is due to changing global economic realities, domestic reforms and the need for a more coherent and forward-looking regulatory framework. According to him, the last edition of the FX manual was issued in 2018, making the latest review both timely and necessary.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market plunged into the red zone as rising bond yields hit risk assets across markets, while traders are increasingly betting the Federal Reserve may need to raise rates again. Rising energy prices and resurging inflation could force central banks back into tightening mode.

Cardano (ADA) shrank by 4.4 per cent to $0.2557, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 3.7 per cent to $0.1104, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.41, Solana (SOL) crashed by 3.5 per cent to $87.81, and Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 3.4 per cent to $659.64.

Further, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 2.6 per cent to $78,547.49, Ethereum (ETH) lost 2.1 per cent to quote at $2,209.19, and TRON (TRX) tumbled by 0.7 per cent to $0.3509, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.