GetBundi Education Foundation has announced plans to empower 500 African women with digital skills in coding.

Development Diaries reports that the coding courses, which will be at no cost to participants, are to hold from 01 June to 31 August, 2023

The coding courses, it is understood, are aimed at bridging the gap in digital skills in Africa, particularly among women.

SDG Five: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

The UN Women, in a 2021 report, noted that globally, 3.7 billion people did not have access to the Internet and half of them were women.

A 2020 report by Project Syndicate revealed that in sub-Saharan Africa, the overall female labour-force participation rate was 61 percent, yet women constituted only 30 percent of professionals in the tech industry.

The report also stated that although internet usage in Africa was growing at the world’s fastest rate, the digital gender gap had widened since 2013, as a quarter fewer women than men were using the net.

The course coordinator, GetBundi Education Technology and GetBundi Education Foundation, Juliet Ijei, said, ‘This programme is particularly important coming at a time when digital skills and tools have become increasingly essential to access services such as health, education, social protection and financial services’.

The NGO explained that the initiative, tagged ‘TechSis 2023’, is a reversal of the male-dominated industry known as ‘Tech Bros’.

Photo source: WOCinTech Chat