Agnes Limo is the Senior Manager-Home Technology and Customer Support. She is responsible for executing the strategy and objectives for connecting Homes with broadband internet using Fiber Optic and Wireless Technologies, preparing the platforms towards Triple Play, Smart Homes and, Home Automation and ensuring customer support to give unmatched experience.
She leads a cross functional team of talented tech savvy colleagues and works directly with stakeholders and partners that include equipment manufacturers, Fiber service providers/Contractors and public and regulatory authorities. Agnes loves helping her team achieve their best by championing several initiatives to improve culture, inclusion and employee engagement, and giving back to the community through Diversity & Inclusion for Persons With Disabilities, Women In Technology program (encouraging girls to have an interest in STEM and pursue careers in Technology), 100% Humanness at Work (To build an environment at work that ensures staff have a sense of belonging and feel appreciated).
Agnes is a loving Wife to John and the proud mom of three children – Abby, 10, Adelaide, 7, and Andrew, 4. Agnes has a BSC-Electrical and Electronics Engineering from University of Nairobi and a proud Alumni of Moi Girls-Eldoret.
She has participated in Transformative Research towards early detection of Flash Floods and Droughts as a Microwave expert; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013EGUGA..15.8082H Title: Towards Real-time Monitoring of Convective Rainfall over Kenya, using Terrestrial Microwave Links and Meteosat Second Generation. She pursues other initiatives towards providing Child Online Safety and Growth for Women in Business.
Agnes likes to cook for her family and is currently sharpening her skills in baking and cake decoration.
Evelyn works with the Internet Society as the Policy Outreach Fellow, In her role she works closely on issues related to human rights and access. She’s also involved in the Community Networks and Internet Governance campaign work at the Internet Society.
Evelyn founded Vouch Digital a technology start-up using data and digital payments to transform cash-based programs in Uganda and beyond. The Company’s flagship product; The M-Voucher (Mobile Voucher) system has been used by large development agencies to manage the distribution of agricultural products across Uganda.
M-Voucher is a 2016 World Summit Award winning product in the category of fighting poverty, hunger and disease. The product also won at the Uganda Communications Commission’s ACIA awards 2017 in the ICT for development category as well as at the MTN Innovation Awards 2017, winning in the Best Agriculture product category. Evelyn also won the prestigious outstanding woman in Innovation awards at the MTN Innovation Awards.
Evelyn is an Anita Borg ABIE Change Agent Award winner – 2012; recognized for her role in empowering women and girls in technology. She also sits on the Change Agent ABIE Award selection committee as the current chair of the committee.
Evelyn is an Acumen East Africa fellow as well as an IDEX fellow and spent six months in India as part of the fellowship program working for an education technology social enterprise start-up building a chain of after school learning centers across Bangalore and Kolkata.
Evelyn is greatly interested in Internet governance work especially in understanding the impact of Internet Governance in attaining the sustainable development goals.
She has a Bsc. in Computer Science from Makerere University in Uganda as well as many IT industry certifications.
La révolution numérique qui s’est annoncée depuis le siècle passé a connu de véritables et ultrarapides avancés depuis le début du 21ème siècle. L’internet des objets, la digitalisation des domaines de développement, et la mutation répétée des différentes innovations dans les secteurs du développement des communautés des pays en développement, ont gagné les différents laboratoires, start-up, universités, académies, etc.
Le milieu en constant changement semble par contre dominé par les hommes. Des innovations d’hommes affluent de jour en jour les systèmes d’information et canal de distribution des informations et innovations. Le constat est le même au niveau des pays avancés comme celui des pays moins avancés. En région Francophone d’Afrique, la règle est la même et reste inchangée. Les innovations quittant les laboratoires de conception pour les sphères d’implémentation et le marché d’usage sont majoritairement attribués aux hommes. Peut-être que les hommes sont les chefs des organisations qui présentent bon nombre de ces innovations qui révolutionnent nos vies mais une bonne partie des ingénieurs, des graphistes, des concepteurs et des conseillers en marketing et en user experience sont des femmes.
Portrait de quelques prouesses de femmes d’Afriques francophones dans les TICs
Tout comme en famille et dans les sociétés socioculturelles, les femmes comme au niveau de l’industrie technologique, sont le socle des processus de développement. Plusieurs technologiques trouvent leur quintessence (sont inventés et conçus) parce que les femmes en ont besoin mais sont créées avec réussite grâce aux femmes et/ou par les femmes. Les services et produits technologiques trouvés en région francophone doivent leur succès à la participation de plusieurs femmes ; à titre illustratif Isocel SA fournisseur de services internet, réussit à donner satisfaction aux utilisateurs du Bénin, du Togo, du Niger, du Sénégal grâce à Elzie ADISSIN, la Responsable Commerciale & Marketing, de la firme.
Par ailleurs, un nombre importants de femmes travaillent à digitaliser les services urgents pour faciliter la vie aux femmes et aux hommes qui gagneraient davantage en temps, et en produits et services de qualité. Masha AKRE, CEO AFRODICT CÔTE D’IVOIRE, Kadidja NIANG, Fondatrice MashaNiang, Annicelle Reine KUNGNE, Co Fondatrice et Directrice Financière Infinity Space, et Raodath AMINOU, Fondatrice OptiMiam, sont des femmes reconnues qui ont travaillé non seulement à révolutionner totalement la vie des communautés d’Afrique Francophone mais aussi au développement de technologies qui révolutionnent également l’ère technologique. La première créa et continue de perfectionner la plateforme AFRODICT : une plateforme de réservation et de mise en relation des professionnels de la beauté avec les clientes. La plateforme dispose également d’un service après-vente qui permet aux usagers de noter la prestation du professionnel de la beauté et de le/la recommander ou non. La seconde a créé sa startup MishaNiang, une application mobile qui valorisera les produits artisanaux du continent africain et permettra aux clients de commander une vaste gamme d’articles de maroquinerie qu’ils conceptualisent et personnalisent, mettant ainsi en avant la créativité et le goût au cœur du produit.
Anicelle Reine KUNGE est la reine du fintech, avec le WeCashUp système de paiement universel de la start-up Infinity Space et adapté à la population africaine majoritairement non-bancarisée. Avec la solution WeCashUp la population africaine peut désormais effectuer des paiements en ligne via le mobile money. Raodath AMINOU se bat contre le gaspillage, elle a fondé en 2014 OptiMiam, une application d’innovation de service qui fait la mise en relation entre consommateurs et commerçants pour la vente des produits frais afin de lutter contre le gaspillage alimentaire. Trois (3) années plus tard, une quinzaine de tonnes de repas ont été sauvées grâce aux partenariats avec huit cent (800) commerçants et deux cent mille (200.000) utilisateurs de l’application.
Les initiatives de femmes leaders se multiplient et impactent dans les TICs
Les femmes dans leur participation à l’ère numérique et technologique, ne se limitent pas à la création de services et produits facilitant la résolution de certains problèmes de société. A l’instar de AfChix promue par la Leader Dorcas Muthoni et qui est un hub de valorisation et de formations des femmes en technologie, plusieurs autres incubateurs, hub, initiatives de femmes leaders se multiplient et impactent, contrairement à certaines initiatives des hommes, des millions de personnes de différentes communautés. Ces initiatives sont les centres de promotion et de formation de plusieurs autres femmes. Les incubateurs de femmes et les femmes incubées proposent des solutions au quotidien, des solutions qui nous rendent la vie plus que facile.
Si vous avez envie de connaître davantage sur les initiatives d’incubations, de formations et de promotion de femmes en technologie n’hésitez pas à rejoindre AfChix pour profiter de ses opportunités.
Women and new technological revolution 21th century
The digital revolution that has emerged since the last century has experienced real and ultrafast advanced since the beginning of the 21th century. The Internet of Things, the digitization of development areas, and the repeated mutation of different innovations in the development sectors for communities in developing countries, have won the different laboratories, start-ups, universities, academies, etc.
The constantly changing environment seems to be dominate by men. Men’s innovations are flowing from day to day information systems and information distribution channel and innovations. The situation is the same in Advanced Developed Countries as in the Least Developed Countries. In Francophone Africa, the rule is the same and remains unchanged. Innovations who leaving the design laboratories for the implementation sphere and the use market are mostly attribute to men. Maybe men are the leaders of the organizations that have many of these innovations that are revolutionizing our lives, but a lot of the engineers, graphic designers, designers, marketing consultants and user experience are women.
Portrait of some prowess of francophone Africa women
In addition, just like in family and in socio-cultural societies, women, as well as in the technological industry, are the bedrock of development processes. Many technologies find their quintessence (are invented and designed) because women need them; but they are created successfully by women, thanks to them. Technological services and products found in the Francophone Africa region owe their success to the participation of several women. As an illustration, Isocel SA, an internet service provider, has been able to satisfy users in Benin, Togo, Niger and Senegal thanks to Elzie ADISSIN, the Sales & Marketing Manager of the firm.
In addition, a significant number of women are working to digitize urgent services to make life easier for women and men who would gain more in time and quality products and services. Masha AKRE, CEO AFRODICT CÔTE D’IVOIRE, Kadidja NIANG, Founder MashaNiang , Annicelle Reine KUNGNE, Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of Infinity Space , and Raodath AMINOU, Founder OptiMiam , are some recognized women who have worked not only to completely revolutionize the life of Francophone African communities but also to develop technologies that are also revolutionizing the technological era. The first created and continued to perfect the AFRODICT platform: a platform for booking and connecting beauty’s professionals with clients. The platform also has an after-sales service that allows users to rate the performance of the beauty’s professional and to recommend it or not.
The second created its startup MishaNiang , a mobile application that will highlight the craft products of the African continent and allow customers to order a wide range of leather goods that they conceptualize and personalize, thus highlighting the creativity and taste of heart of the product .
Anicelle Reine KUNGE is the queen of fintech, with WeCashUp universal payment system of the Infinity Space start-up and adapted it to the African population mostly unbanked. With the WeCashUp solution the African population can now make online payments via mobile money. Raodath AMINOU fights against waste, in 2014 she founded OptiMiam , a service innovation application that connects consumers and merchants for the sale of fresh produce in order to fight against food waste. Three (3) years later, some fifteen tons of meals were save thanks to partnerships with eight hundred (800) merchants and two hundred thousand (200,000) users of the application.
Women leaders’ initiatives multiply and have an impact in ICTs
Women in their participation in the digital and technological age are not limited to the creation of services and products facilitating the resolution of certain social problems. Like AfChix promoted by the Leader Dorcas Muthoni, which is a hub for the valorization and training of women in technology, several other incubators, hubs, initiatives of women leaders are multiplying and impact, contrary to certain initiatives of men, millions of people from different communities. These initiatives are the promotion and training centers of several other women. Women’s incubators and incubated women offer everyday solutions, solutions that make life easier for us.
If you want to know more about the initiatives of incubations, trainings and promotion of women in technology, you can join AfChix to access their opportunities.
Michuki Mwangi, Regional Development Manager for Africa at the Internet Society
Michuki Mwangi is the Regional Development Manager for Africa at the Internet Society where he works in the African Regional Bureau to promote Internet growth and sustainability since 2008.
At the Internet Society Michuki has been instrumental in the design and execution of the multi-pronged and ambitious, Africa Interconnection and Traffic Exchange Program, that aims to achieve 80% local and 20% international Internet traffic exchanged in Africa by the year 2020. At present he leads the Internet Society’s Community Networks initiative that aims to bring innovative connectivity solutions, to marginalised and rural communities in Africa.
Before joining the Internet Society, Michuki was an Internet technology consultant. He previously served as the Administrative Manager at the .KE ccTLD registry (KENIC), President of the Africa Top Level Domain Association (AfTLD), and as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the Kenya Internet Exchange Point (KIXP).
He has long been active in the African and global Internet communities, having been centrally involved in key infrastructure developments, technical coordination activities, and policy-making forums. At present, he is actively involved in supporting the Summit on Community Networks in Africa, the Africa Internet Summit (AIS), Africa-IXP Association (Af-IX), Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF), and several other local, regional and international technology groups.
Michuki is based in Nairobi, Kenya.
If you have not yet registered to attend the summit to meet Michuki click here to do it.
Lillian Nyawira est une ingénieure en télécommunications bien établie dont la carrière s’étend sur 15 ans. Spécialisée dans l’analyse et l’assurance de réseaux, le benchmarking des services de réseaux mobiles, l’exploitation des réseaux et la gestion de l’expérience client de bout en bout.
Lilian est actuellement chargé de positionner Safaricom Kenya Limited dans le cadre d’une initiative visant à fournir le meilleur réseau pour vous. Il s’agit de gérer une équipe d’ingénieurs de haut calibre qui exécutent les processus de gestion des pannes et l’assurance réseau pour les services mobiles de bout en bout qui incluent les données, la voix et l’argent mobile MPESA sur l’ensemble du réseau Safaricom. Elle gère également le benchmarking des réseaux mobiles intérieurs et extérieurs qui a toujours vu Safaricom émerger comme le meilleur réseau au Kenya.
Auparavant, elle a occupé un poste de cadre supérieur au centre d’exploitation du réseau. C’est dans ce rôle qu’elle a puisé à la fois ses compétences en leadership et en gestion de projet pour voir l’entreprise livrer le modèle opérationnel du projet du Service national de police – un système de sécurité pour le gouvernement kenyan et le projet MPESA G2 qui a vu les serveurs d’argent mobile retournés au Kenya pour la grande efficacité dont les clients attestent aujourd’hui. Son rôle dans la mise en œuvre du processus de gestion du changement pour s’assurer que tous les changements dans le réseau adhèrent aux meilleures pratiques a vu une amélioration du processus assurant un taux de réussite plus élevé dans la gestion des changements à travers le réseau.
Elle a également joué un rôle clé dans le programme de résilience du réseau de bout en bout qui a mené à la mise à niveau de niveau 3 des centres de données clés de Safaricoms, aux mises à niveau du réseau de transport, aux mises à niveau de puissance sur les sites à travers le pays, à la mise en commun du réseau central qui a mené à la continuité des affaires et à la reprise après sinistre sur les services du réseau mobile qui a amélioré de façon significative la disponibilité du service.
Sachant à quel point il est intimidant d’être et de demeurer un chef de file dans un domaine dominé par les hommes, Lilian est maintenant une Ingénieure chevronnée qui comprend trop bien ce domaine et d’autres environnements. Elle en est à un point de sa carrière où elle a choisit d’être meneur d’une équipe qui croit en la croissance des autres par le mentorat et la responsabilité.
Si vous ne vous êtes pas encore inscrit cliquez ici pour le faire afin de rencontrer Lillian lors du sommet AIS Dakar 2018.
LILIAN NYAWIRA Telecommunications Engineer Speaker of AIS 2018 in Dakar
Lillian Nyawira is a well-grounded telecommunications engineer with career spanning 15 years. Specializing in Network analytics and assurance, Mobile network service benchmarking, Network operations and end to end Customer experience management.
Lilian is currently entrusted with positioning Safaricom Kenya limited in an initiative to provide the Best Network for You. It entails managing a team of high caliber engineers that perform fault management process and Network assurance for end to end mobile services that include data, voice and mobile money MPESA across the entire Safaricom network. She also manages both indoor and outdoor mobile network benchmarking which has seen Safaricom always emerge as the Best Network in Kenya.
Prior to this she held a role as Senior manager Network operations center. It is at this role that she drew both her leadership skills and project management to see the company deliver the operational model for National Police Service project-a security system for the Kenyan government and MPESA G2 project that saw the mobile money servers moved back to Kenya for the high efficiency that customers now attest to. Her role in implementing change management process to ensure all changes in the network adhere to best practice saw improvement in the process ensuring higher success rate in managing changes across the network. She also played a key role on end to end Network resilience program that led to tier 3 upgrade of Safaricoms key data centers, Transport network upgrades, power upgrades on sites across the country, Core network pooling which led to seamless business continuity and Disaster recovery on mobile network services that significantly improved service availability.
Knowing well how daunting it is to be and remain a leader in a male dominated field, Lilian is now a seasoned engineer who understands this and other environments all too well. She is at a point in her career where she chooses to be that team player who believes in growing others through mentorship and responsible empowerment.
If you have not yet registered to attend the summit to meet LILIAN NYAWIRA click here to do it.
Speaker of AIS 2018 in Dakar 1≠ : Ndeye Maimouna Diop ICT Engineer
Mrs Ndeye Maimouna Diop has worked as ICT director at Senegal’s Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and ICT, from April 2004 to September 2012. She designed a strategic ICT4D master plan for Senegalese government. She was the Senegalese government representative at several global initiatives like G8 DOT Force, UN ICT Task Force, the Government Advisory Committee (GAC) of ICANN and the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) of Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Prior to that, she has worked as a technical advisor on ICT for the Senegalese Government from 2000 to 2004.
From 2001 to 2002, she was ICT advisor on Ministry in charge of ICT and coordinate the national ICT strategy plan to move Senegal on Information Society. From 2002 to 2004 she was in charge of telemedicine strategy. As chief of IP service at SONATEL, she installed and administrated the first national IP Backbone with ATM and Cisco technologies in 1998.
She was elected as AfrNIC Board member (2011-2013) and served as chair of the board for 2011-2012. She takes part on activities of the forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), she is a member of the Observatoire sur les Systèmes d’Information, les Réseaux et les Inforoutes au Sénégal (OSIRIS). She is Chair of the Senegalese Chapter of Internet Society (ISOC-SN) and Chair of Senegalese IPv6 Forum.
Ndeye Maimouna Diop holds a degree in Data Processing, Computer Science Engineering and Technology. She also got a degree on Internet Governance. She is currently a Ph.D candidate on Internet Of Things
Few women are involved in ICT. This is partly due to the fact that women have long been relegated to second place in Africa since they are inferior in the hierarchy of communities and societies on the continent. This position, which far from signifying that they have no importance in society, is due to the subordination that women must owe to men and especially the circumference of their work and action in society.
However, socio-economic change have taken place since these years: several development and behavior change initiatives have been decisive in this fight. The fight today is mostly won in Francophone Africa even if we still note efforts made on some levels. Indeed, the schooling of girls has been one of the great battles since the end of the 20th century. What is the place of women in the field of new technologies nowadays in West Africa?
From school to science and technology: a tough battle.
The majority of girls in Francophone Africa Countries have had a short school career for decades. This is due to socio-cultural weight, poverty, early marriages, lack of coaching and motivation, etc. It has therefore been common for three decades to see these girls cut short in their primary and secondary education throughout the Francophone African region. Only minority frequencies of girls or women are found in universities. Among them are teachers from all fields, intellectuals, etc.
This world of women works with organizations to give other women the chance these days. The repeated movements and the promotion and fight against the obstacles mentioned above make it possible today to count a significant number of women in professional and university environments. However, the situation seems more worrying with regard to women in Mathematics and Technology Sciences. It is not too rare to see women in the literary or social sciences. A significant number of women also find themselves in life sciences and biology. The number of women in technological and mathematical engineering sciences.
This glaring situation is exacerbated by prejudices, the duty incumbent on women and the large male share given to these sciences because even at the continental and international level, the struggle is far from being won, parity and equality of opportunity, discoveries and innovations In Mathematical Sciences and Technological Engineering. UNESCO and the World Bank and private, public and civil society organizations have been working for almost 10 years to promote women in STEM so that they can feed the life course of technological sciences, computer engineering, software and software, and applied mathematical and physical sciences.
The multiplicity of struggles for the feminization of the fields of technological and computer sciences.
Very few Francophone women in Africa are present as engineers in technology and computer sciences. This figure is increasing from year to year thanks to various initiatives to encourage young girls in universities, high schools and academies. AfChix, an international organization for the advancement of women in ICT, is working to achieve these goals. USAID and the U.S. Embassy in French-speaking countries are also working to promote girls and women in ICTs; “Women in Tech” initiatives that give priority to professional women and women entrepreneurs in new technologies also contribute to the enhancement and promotion of women in these fields but more particularly to the paradigm shift in these fields.
The most inspiring initiatives in recent year have been led by women or women’s groups. Indeed, thanks to these fighting actresses like AfChix, many women have found the strength, motivation and courage to continue working in technological and computer sciences. The coming years will bring us many surprises with women and ICTs in French speaking countries in Africa.
AfChix had its very first AfChix TechWomen Summit on 27th May 2017, under the theme: “A Spectrum of Opportunities”.
The one day event took place alongside the Africa Internet Summit (AIS) 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Africa Internet Summit (AIS), which every year, attracts internationally renowned Instructors,
Experts and Speakers to share the latest innovations and best practices in the Internet industry, consisted of seminars, workshops, tutorials, conference sessions and other forums for sharing ICT knowledge within the African region.
The AIS 2017 was different! For the very first time, as part of its two weeks’ programs, there was a whole day, activities-packed event aimed at connecting with and inspiring the young current and future women in computing.
AfChix believes that as it is Important to empower more women into the Technical Roles, so it is equally important to address some of the soft skills issues faced by women in their different environments, which issues could negatively impact on their active participation in the technical roles in the industry.
The objectives of the TechWomen Summit include: 1) Provide a platform for African Women in Technology to learn from each other through the various summit sessions. 2) Provide opportunities for network and inspiration for African Women in Technology. 3) Strengthen the AfChix Network through increased visibility of AfChix’s work and programs.
ATTENDANCE:
Organizations represented included: Private organizations, Women in Tech Initiatives, Telecom companies, Academia/Universities, Startups, NGOs and Government entities among others. About 50% of the attendees were young ladies at University.
We had a fun-filled day of presentations, panel discussions, lunch hour discussions and networking cocktail. The topics tackled during the presentations and panel discussions included:
Benefits of growing women in tech communities around the world
Creating change in Africa by using online, accessible tools
Cutting Through The Gender Divide
Educating and empowering women in technology in Africa
Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Africa Where are we now?
IT Women in Industry Work + Life balance testimonial for women with high career and a successful family life
We also had lunch hour table discussions where we had one on one discussions on:
1).The realities of funding women in Tech entrepreneurs in Africa 2).Salary parity: equal pay for equal work, are we there yet! 3). Internet of Things (IoT) 4).Security 5).Leadership and 6).AfChix
By the end of the event, a number of young girls in university had indicated that they were hearing about opportunities such as AFNOG training and FIRE Africa programs, among others for the very first time. They indicated interest to tap into and benefit from these opportunities.
MEN IN THE HOUSE
A few years back, during one of our annual Afchix career guidance seminars in Uganda, we received a small note written by a one 15 year old girl. In her note, she requested us to assist her and talk to her father to permit her to study Telecom Engineering once she joins the University. She shared with us the contacts of her parents. This girl was excellent at sciences, but for some unknown reasons, she said her father was discouraging her from pursuing what she wanted.
The girl’s testimony is evidence that parents play a major role in influencing the future of their children. Participating in such events as AfChix TechWomen Summit is, with no doubt, a platform where the men too, can learn a few things about some of the issues they may need to pay attention to. Our very first event attracted five (5) men, we hope for and encourage more men to be a part of this in future.
OUR SPONSORS
Thank you AFRINIC, AfNOG, ISOC, NSRC and the Anita Borg Institute (ABI) for the support.
CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING AT AIS
AfChix was one of the grantees of the 2016 FIRE Africa Grants by AFRINIC. As part of the offers, on behalf of AfChix, I participated and benefitted from a very practical capacity building training on Utilization Focused Evaluation and Research Communication (U-FE & ResComm). Organized by AFRINIC, the two-day event gave us an insight to how we can integrate the U-FE & ResComm processes into our on-going projects.
Our project “Boosting the Pipeline of Information Technology through Role Modeling and Information Dissemination” is meant to inspire more young girls into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics through shared stories of inspiration by Successful African Women in Technology.
