Economy
Tech4Dev, Microsoft to Empower 10,000 Women
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
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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