Could entrepreneurs bring new meaning to the African girl-child?
At last week’s WEF on Africa, women were honoured for their contribution to innovation
In my own work in the African innovation field, I had a rather troubling day about two years ago when I realised that out of all the innovators I’ve interviewed, spoken about, written about in my book and articles, very few of them were female. This insight, to my own shame, had to be pointed out to me by a female media contributor with whom I was discussing an article on innovation. From that day forth I set out to try and equal the scales, as it were, and put effort into finding more female innovators.
However, I was soon to discover it just wasn’t that easy. It’s not as if women are unable, of course. Last week’s World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, which took place in Durban and which I was privileged to be a part of, is a case in point. Six entrepreneurs who are doing amazing work in tech and innovation were selected for the 2017 Africa Breakthrough Tech Entrepreneurs Award at the forum. I’ll elaborate further in a moment but what it comes down to in all fields of work, opportunity, and entrepreneurship in Africa is: the plight of the African girl-child.
This is a subject that I’ve grown more passionate about as I’ve grown in my love for our continent and as I’ve realised more and more just how much of a pioneer my mother was. Like many African fathers, mine had to work for extensive periods outside of our country and it was up to my mother to take care of matters at home. While working as a teacher herself, she raised five great kids — four of them girls — who all succeeded in their studies, went on to do postgraduate degrees and entered the workforce seamlessly. This in a time when opportunities for women were less abundant than they are today.
But still, there aren’t enough. And even if there are more, the trouble is that it appears women still have to work harder than men to gain the same kind of respect.
I was chatting to a female innovator not too long ago who informed me in the course of our conversation that her baby was due in a few days. My mind boggled — I couldn’t comprehend that she was still working and as bright as ever a few days just before hav- ing her child. Even more puzzling was how, a few days after giving birth, she still found the time to communicate with me and tried to set up a meeting.
These are the sorts of challenges female innovators have to endure to be seen as being on par with their male counterparts, and therein lies the problem. We really have to change our attitudes and viewpoints about female innovators. Not only should they be at the table when it comes to entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation, creativity and decision-making, but the hardships they have had to face to get there in the first place must also be recognised.
Top female entrepreneurs at WEF were inspiring
The WEF on Africa convened regional and global leaders from business, government and civil society to agree on the priorities that will help Africa achieve inclusive growth. With all the above in mind, one of the highlights for me was seeing six top female entrepreneurs honoured at the event. All of the entrants had to have run a business that’s less than three years old, with at least one year of generating revenue, and had to have an innovative technology or business model. Each of them contributed to the think-tank on giving entrepreneurship a boost in Africa. Here’s more about them:
Aisha Pandor, co-founder of SweepSouth
I met Pandor about two years ago when she launched the ever-growing-in-popularity SweepSouth app. SweepSouth, based in South Africa, allows you to book a cleaner through its app, indicate how many rooms you need cleaned, what special requirements you might have, whether you have cleaning products or not, and other options. It’s akin to Uber for cleaners, with the cleaners having the option to work flexible hours and find the best opportunities, while the platform’s algorithm matches its “SweepStars” with the right customers. You can request the same cleaner again and they can rate you as a customer. This is doing two things. Firstly, it’s ensuring that cleaners are paid fairly for the hours they work and secondly, it helps elevate the status of cleaners in the minds of South Africans. It’s a very simple solution to a problem that I believe will bring fantastic changes to an industry that’s been needing a serious overhaul.
Temie Giwa-Tubosun, founder of LifeBank
LifeBank uses its platform to get blood to the right place in Nigeria at the right time. It uses a predictive modelling system to ensure health workers are supplied with the blood they require. It mobilises blood donations through its app, and then connects hospitals and health centres to their requirements. It has plans to expand into several more major African cities soon.
Charity Wanjiku, co-founder of Strauss Energy
Strauss Energy (Kenya) integrates energy-generating technology into basic building materials: roof tiles, glass, pavement, walls, roads, and in stadiums and warehouses, etcetera. It makes use of Building Integrated Photovoltaics, which are energy-producing solar cells fitted into functional parts of any construction, to achieve this. Strauss Energy is able to undercut other solar tiles by 30%, and in addition, it is more cost efficient, durable, and more aesthetically pleasing than solar panels.
Oluwayimika Angel Adelaja, founder and chief executive of Fresh Direct Nigeria
As a social enterprise, Fresh Direct focuses on protecting and boosting local farming and production, especially among the youth, using new technologies that will help Africans compete on a commercial scale. One of its technologies is stackable container farms, which assist urbanites to farm and harvest high quality produce. It amazes me that these stackable container farms aren’t in every city already, to be honest. The technology uses less water and, of course, less land than conventional farming, but is able to produce 15 times more crops. When see what can be done with these sorts of farms, it’s truly space-age, exciting stuff. We can literally have farms for a fraction of the price all over our cities — I really believe it’s a unique breakthrough.
Darlene Menzies, founder and chief executive of FinFind
South African-based FinFind assists start-ups and SMME’s to obtain financing, by matching them with (to date) 200 lenders and 300 loan offerings. It does this easily through its website. It also explains financing, links businesses with accountants and advisers, and, on the lender side, effectively provides a consistent stream of leads.
Esther Karwera, co-founder of Akorion
Akorion’s tag-line is “ICT for Agriculture”. Based in Uganda, it has developed software that collects real-time data (GPS data, production data, inputs demand, product supply, mapped cultivated land, bio data etcetera) for farmers, and connects them with financial institutions, suppliers, insurance companies, markets and exporters. Smallholder farmers can sell directly to agribusinesses, creating better opportunities for them at a better price. It even helps farmers to know the right nutrients for their soil and adjust accordingly. It has built up a network of 42 000 farmers in Uganda already, and is helping to reduce rural unemployment in a big way.
These are only the tip of the iceberg. Other women, such as Ory Okolloh and Juliana Rotich, digital activists who co-created Ushahidi, a crisis-mapping tool that was developed to help curb violence in elections and has extended into the US and Europe and Australia for all sorts of other uses (firefighting, civil rights, and others) are examples of women making a huge difference through innovative technologies.
Women are, of course, working in other fields such as education and job creation. Just a few weeks ago, I was able to feature Dr Gisele Mophou, the first female chair of the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Rwanda, which has a huge focus on gender equality. The institute has found creative ways to help women complete their studies, even when they need antenatal care and care for their babies.
Each and every one of these women are pioneering and innovating in important fields and industries, working hard to help shape an amazing future for us as Africans. I for one found the honouring of these women at WEF encouraging, and am excited to see what can happen when we get over our preconceived biases and accord such women the respect they deserve, ushering in a new generation that will give new meaning to the term “African girl-child”.
It appears women still have to work harder than men to gain the same kind of respect.