IWD: 10 women in Africa edtech leading the charge for progress

As the world celebrates the International Women’s Day, it’s crucial to recognise the impactful contributions of women in various fields, including the rapidly evolving landscape of education technology (EdTech) in Africa. 

Edugist presents an article which sheds light on the achievements of ten (10) remarkable women entrepreneurs, educators, and innovators who are driving transformative change in the African edtech sector. Their dedication, resilience, and ingenuity not only reflect the theme of UN Women’s Day, “Invest in women: Accelerate progress,” but also inspire the next generation of leaders in the technology sector.

Here are 10 women in Africa edtech leading the charge for progress.

1. Rapelang Rabana (South Africa) – Co-founder, Rekindle Learning

Rapelang Rabana, a trailblazing entrepreneur and computer scientist from South Africa, co-founded Rekindle Learning, an edtech company dedicated to fostering continuous learning. Rapelang graduated with honours from the University of Cape Town in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Science with a specialty in Computer Science. 

Rabana’s innovative approach emphasises personalised learning experiences, catering to diverse educational needs. Her commitment to leveraging technology for accessible and effective learning has garnered recognition. She was on Oprah Magazine’s O Power List of 2012. The following year, she was listed on Forbes’s 30 under 30 list for best entrepreneurs of Africa. Rapelang was named one of the Entrepreneurs of the World by the World Entrepreneurship Forum in 2014 and in 2017, Rapelang was selected as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.

2. Rebecca Enonchong (Cameroon) – Founder, AppsTech

Rebecca Enonchong, a renowned entrepreneur from Cameroon, is the founder of AppsTech, a leading global provider of enterprise application solutions. Enonchong attended the Catholic University of America, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree and also a Master of Science degree in Economics.

Recognised as one of Forbes’ 10 Female Tech Founders to Watch in Africa, Enonchong is committed to leveraging technology for educational empowerment. AppsTech’s initiatives focus on providing scalable EdTech solutions, including e-learning platforms and educational apps.

3. Honey Ogundeyi (Nigeria) – Founder, Edukoya

Honey Ogundeyi is the founder of Edukoya, an edtech startup she led to raise $3.5 million, which happens to be the biggest pre-seed raised by an edtech startup in Nigeria. She graduated from the University of Birmingham with a BSc in Public Policy and Management. She has previously served as Country Director at the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub and worked in different capacities globally at UBA Group, Kuda, McKinsey & Company, Ericsson and Google.

WIth Edukoya, Ogundeyi strives to make learning materials and support more accessible and affordable. In essence, it wants to reinvent how African students learn in the age of mobile devices. It hopes to achieve this by connecting African students with digital curriculum content and on-demand teachers for real-time online learning.

4. Nivi Mukherjee (Kenya) – Founder, eLimu

Nivi Mukherjee founded eLimu, an interactive educational platform with rich digital localised content for the Kenyan Primary School curriculum. The application vamps up educational content with locally produced and culturally relevant videos, animations, songs, music, games and quizzes to improve learning and assessment outcomes. eLimu has been deployed on low cost tablets to students all over Kenya with phenomenal results and has been featured on CNN, Al-Jazeera, BBC and The Economist. 

As a social entrepreneur, technophile and community volunteer, Mukherjee is passionate about empowering youth and engaging in community initiatives that foster development and fun. She worked in the IT training industry (for adults) for 6 years before starting eLimu.

5. Faraja Nyalandu (Tanzania) – Founder, Shule Direct

Faraja Nyalandu, an entrepreneur, is the founder of Shule Direct, an edtech platform that offers digital content and resources to students and teachers in secondary schools in Tanzania. 

Nyalandu’s vision is to make education accessible to all Tanzanian students, irrespective of their background. Shule Direct provides interactive content, exam preparation resources, and career guidance, contributing to a holistic approach to education.

6. Judith Owigar (Kenya) – Founder, Akirachix

Judith Owigar, a Kenyan entrepreneur and founder of Akirachix, is a visionary leader empowering women in technology. Owigar’s commitment to nurturing women’s talents in the tech industry contributes to creating a diverse and inclusive environment within which edtech can thrive. She is radically changing the lives of women in East Africa by providing training, mentorship, and outreach programmes for women in technology. 

Owigar’s work with AkiraChix has been a significant boost for women innovators in Africa. AkiraChix’s vision to nurture generations of women who use technology to develop innovations and solutions for Africa has contributed immensely to empowering women in Africa both technologically and financially. She holds a PhD in Information Systems from the University of Nairobi.

7. Ada Nduka Oyom (Nigeria) – Founder, She Code Africa

Ada Nduka Oyom is the founder of She Code Africa, a non-profit organisation empowering girls and women in Africa with technical skills. She founded SCA in 2016 and has since impacted over 42,000 women members across 20 African countries with her team, while championing gender diversity in tech through it.

Her dedication to gender advocacy in STEM has also garnered numerous international awards, including the Women who Code – Founder’s award, Future Awards Ytech 100 honoree, Booking.com Tech Playmaker award, HackerNoon’s Developer Advocate of the year, Education change-maker by Women Of the World in London and most recently the 2023 Digital Female leadership award in Germany

She currently serves as a Director on a U.S board working with governments & international bodies to mitigate negative use of AI technologies in policy making and warfare. Ada also continues to dedicate her time to mentoring tech talents, ensuring they have the opportunity to succeed in the field. She graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka with a bachelor’s degree in microbiology.

8. Baratang Miya (South Africa) – Founder, GirlHype

Baratang Miya is a South African social entrepreneur and the founder of GirlHype, a non-profit organisation that aims to empower girls and young women in South Africa through technology education. Girlhype Coders provides training and workshops on coding, app development, and digital literacy to girls in underprivileged communities to help them gain the skills and confidence they need to succeed in the digital age.

Miya has received numerous awards for her contributions to social entrepreneurship and technology education, including the Anzisha Prize for African youth entrepreneurship and the TechWomen Emerging Leader Award from the U.S. Department of State. She has a bachelor’s degree and a postgraduate diploma from the University of Cape.

9. Gloria Ojukwu (Nigeria) – Founder, HerTechTrail

Gloria Ojukwu is the founder of HerTechTrail, a community of over 18000 black women globally across 15+ countries and providing them with tuition-free digital and technical literacy, helping them build sustainable tech careers. HerTechTrail is committed to helping digital and tech founders solve gender inclusion problems by building the number one black women in tech talent pipeline from Africa.

Ojukwu is experienced across different sectors including IT, SportsTech, EduTech, E-entertainment, E-commerce, and HealthTech industries, and has managed distributed teams across the globe. She graduated from Niger Delta University with a BSc in computer science.

10. Juliana Rotich (Kenya) – Co-founder of BRCK, iHub

Juliana Rotich, a Kenyan information technology professional, co-founded BRCK, an innovative company providing internet solutions for education in remote areas. To help solve the lack of internet access due to blackouts in Nairobi, BRCK produces a battery-operated modem that can run for eight hours without electricity.

Rotich is also the co-founder of iHub, a collective tech space in Nairobi, Kenya, and of Ushahidi, open-source software for collecting and mapping information. She graduated from the University of Missouri–Kansas City with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. She is an MIT Media Lab Fellow and a TED Senior Fellow.