Female entrepreneurs making a splash in East Africa

Challenging the norms in East Africa, many young women are tapping into their entrepreneurial potential. From developing apps and software, to founding non-profit organisations, women in

East Africa are attracting African and global attention for their success making change in traditionally patriarchal societies.

Women in East Africa are often the key home care providers, juggling working, maintaining the family home, cooking and importantly, helping their kids to learn. Whether doing their best to ensure their children access education, or by actually taking on the role of teacher themselves, there is no doubt that women are playing a central role in raising eastern Africa’s young people.

It is thus natural that women in East Africa are beginning to take on a more pivotal role in the development of technology supported education, in an effort to provide more modern and sustainable learning tools for citizens.

Reach out to the Wives of the Soldiers (ROWOSA) is a project by women, for women. The Uganda-based organisation assists wives of soldiers who lack employable skills and opportunities to earn a sustainable income, thereby securing their financial independence.

Through technology-supported programmes, these women can learn a variety of skills including sewing, computer science, baking and farming.

With lifelong skills, these women can not only ensure the effective financing of a household with a double income, but also pass the skills onto their own children, improving their future prospects.

It’s not just women in East Africa making a splash in the technology and education industries – it takes considerable support and teamwork from both men and women to keep these initiatives growing and building lasting infrastructure.

From startup accelerator Nailab in Kenya, mobile communications enterprise Text to Change in Uganda and then north to elearning centre Camara Ethiopia, East Africa has a plethora of innovative operations opening up and changing lives in communities.

"The initial idea for the e-learning events was sparked in 2004 when I heard about optical fibre cables being laid in Ethiopia," says Rebecca Stromeyer, founder and CEO of Integrated Communications Worldwide Events, which runs the annual elearning Africa conference.

"I realised the potential information and communications technologies (ICT) held for development in Africa. This year's elearning Africa conference in Uganda is our 9th. We have been hosted by Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Senegal, Benin and Namibia and typically have over 1,500 participants and more than 300 speakers," she says.

A considerable contingency of speakers and participants from East Africa will be present at the eLearning Africa 2014 Conference, from May 28th – 30th in Kampala, Uganda.

from:newbusinessethiopia