The women-focused non-profit WeTech held its second Women in Tech Conference on August 27, 2022. This year’s conference was titled “We are here, a thousand of us.” Indeed, a thousand women attended the event—vibrant women who wanted to kickstart and scale their careers and startups in the tech ecosystem. They convened at the Landmark Conference Center in Lagos, Nigeria, to make valuable connections and be informed about the state of tech on the continent and the opportunities available.
Founded by Gabriella Uwadiegwu and Flora Uwadiegwu, WeTech is committed to closing the gender disparity in the ecosystem, and this annual conference is one of its means to achieve that goal. This year’s conference was hosted by Koromone Koroye, managing editor at Tech Cabal—a media partner of WeTech. She moderated insightful and empowering panel discussions with 10 speakers who hold technical and non-technical roles in notable companies and startups in the ecosystem.
In the first panel, Chisom Nwokwu (Software Engineer at Microsoft), Folu Otubanjo (product specialist at Paystack), Sarah Igho Omoike (co-founder of Women in ML & Data Science), Oluwadara Openiyi (product manager at Busha) and Ada Nduka Oyom (founder of She Code Africa) talked about how women from different backgrounds can transition into tech and expand their network in the ecosystem to scale their careers.
In the second panel, a lively conversation among Ojuolape Kuti (research lead at Busha), Uzoma James, (digital marketing manager at YellowCard), and Ebube Ojimadu (product manager at Quidax) demystified Web 3.0 and the future of the Internet. The speakers in the last panel enlightened the excited audience on the future of fintech and how financial institutions are empowering enterprises and customers, especially women.
After these enrapturing sessions, Ngozi Okonye, a communications lead at Busha, gave an inspiring speech on how women are advancing in the tech ecosystem, going the extra mile and taking up leadership roles. She urged the audience to fearlessly step out of their comfort zones.
On that high note, attendees were given the opportunity to pitch their tech solutions. Aisha Hussaini pitched Keza Africa, an embedded finance product which allows users to buy smartphones and pay in monthly instalments. Ngozi Nwabueze pitched Pocket Lawyers— an app where you can shop for lawyers. Olumide Shode spoke about Alarrt, an app that connects users in verified life-threatening crises to fast emergency responders. The pitches were judged by Nneka Eze (General Partner, Vested World), Adaora Ikenze (Head of Public Policy, Meta), and Temilade Denton (Social Impact & ESG Manager, Alitheia Capital).
Aisha Hussaini’s pitch won their hearts, so they awarded her a cheque of N500,000 ($1,182) to support the development of her product. The other participants were given feedback on their pitches.
The event ended with a networking and career fair. Attendees were also encouraged to engage with representatives of the event’s sponsors to learn about what they do and their available career opportunities. The sponsors of the event include crypto startup Busha, Meta, unicorn fintech Paystack, Bankly, mobility tech Shuttlers, B2B fintech Pennee, Interswitch, Event Architects, online printshop Printivo, staff augmentation firm Tunga, and investment fund Archangel Fund.
