The enriching experience of attending the Grace Hopper Conference in the United States inspired a group of AFCHIX members to create an event on African soil that could bring together women in technology. The event was conceived as an annual gathering that could provide a platform for networking, learning, and stimulation for women in technology and could provide girls with exposure to the sector to inspire them to enter it. 

AFCHIX has hosted three TechWomen Summits as day-long events taking place alongside the annual Africa Internet Summit. The first took place in Nairobi, Kenya in 2017 under the theme “A Spectrum of Opportunities”. This was followed by similar gatherings in Dakar, Senegal and Kampala, Uganda. The programmes included discussions on industry trends, as well as issues more specifically related to women in ICT. 

These events also served to draw attention to the need to attract and retain more women in the African tech industry and to foster collaboration with industry leaders to support women in the workplace. The purpose of past and future AFCHIX WomenTech Summits are to help create an Africa-wide community of women in technology that will continue to network and collaborate long after these events.