A number of incredibly talented and innovative female entrepreneurs have been growing their influence in Africa, using their tech concepts to make a difference across the continent.
The businesswomen on this list are interested in more than just profits, using innovative tech solutions dedicated to taking care of the elderly, improving finance options for small businesses and supporting the visually impaired, among other noble pursuits.
From Josephine Marie Godwyll’s e-learning venture in Ghana’s rural areas to Temie Giwa-Tubosun’s digital supply chain company that enables the safe delivery of high-value medical products in Nigeria, Africa is blessed with an abundance of female entrepreneurs who continue to work hard in the pursuit of their objectives and the positive impact that they have on society.
This is even more impressive considering the fact that entrepreneurship is even more challenging in Africa for women, as Brenda Katwesigye, the founder of Ugandan app InstaHealth, explains.
“Earning respect as a woman in a male-dominated field can be a challenge. There have been many times I have been called a ‘young girl’ or inexperienced, for no valid reason at all. I feel that sometimes women are taken a little less seriously than their male counterparts in the same positions, especially in business”, Katwesigye said, according to Africa.com.
Here are 12 African female entrepreneurs who are using tech to make a difference.
Chika Madubuko is the Nigerian entrepreneur that is improving healthcare options for housebound elderly members of the community through her company, Greymate Care. The online platform connects specialist, vetted carers to those in need of care, giving both patients and the families of the elderly people the peace of mind they are looking for, while providing additional employment options for carers.
It is the aim of Josephine Godwyll’s Young At Heart Ghana to make exciting learning experiences accessible to Ghana’s youth, especially in rural areas. The social enterprise makes digital learning experiences available that have been described as truly game-changing, giving young people digital education options that will make learning fun and interesting, according to Lionesses of Africa.
Temie Giwa-Tubosun’s company LifeBank implements digital supply chain strategies that enable the delivery of blood and other high-value medical products to hospitals and health centers across Nigeria, saving lives while ensuring better quality of healthcare through improved efficiencies. Giwa-Tubosun previously worked for the World Health Organization (WHO), according to the Next Einstein Forum.
Mozambican firm Instituto de Tecnologias, Inovacao e Servicos is Gersia Sequeira’s contribution to positively impacting her country. As a co-founder, she uses technology and software solutions that improve education, e-government and entrepreneurship development in Mozambique.
Ugochi Ugbomeh’s startup Tranzit is a service that moves people and objects from one place to another. The Nigerian entrepreneur is working hard to change public mobility and transport in her country, taking the challenge of Lagos’ notorious traffic in her stride.
Akorion is a company that Esther Karwera founded to develop software that integrates smallholder farmers into digital value chains, helping them to sell their farming products directly to agribusinesses. This enables more farming trade and gives the farmers more money and control over the process of selling their goods. She was invited to discuss her company at a recent World Economic Forum meeting.
Darlene Menzies’ company FinFind explains and aggregates all sources of small and medium business finance, improving access to capital for entrepreneurs and assisting lenders in the identification of quality loan leads. In a country where some small businesses struggle with capital requirements, FinFind is making that process more efficient and intuitive.
Kenyan Wanjiku is the entrepreneur behind Strauss Energy. a company that produces solar roofing tiles that are able to undercut the cost of conventional solar tiles by 30 percent, promoting renewable energy access. The solar tiles work in such a way that they can produce power that can completely sustain a modern household without the need for a secondary power source.
Evelyn Namara, another of the impressive female entrepreneurs on this list, is the founder of Ugandan tech startup !nnovate, an electronic voucher system that uses simple feature mobile phones and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) system to help small holder farmers redeem seed crops, fertilizers and pesticides, according to ITNewsAfrica.
Stephanie Cowper is the co-founder of BeSpecular, a South African startup that is solving a global problem by connecting sighted volunteers to visually impaired, blind and deaf-blind people across the globe. Her company is using mobile tech to make a difference in the world.
Monicah Wambugu is a computer scientist from Kenya and the entrepreneur behind Loanbee, a mobile phone application that calculates the user’s credit scores and grants micro-loans. Qualifying for a loan in Kenya has now become a far easier and less time-consuming process thanks to Loanbee, enabling individuals and entrepreneurs to pursue their goals.
Pandor’s innovative company, SweepSouth, uses sophisticated algorithms to match customers and housekeepers, creating flexible working opportunities and helping to elevate the status of housekeepers in South Africa, while providing a sought-after and vetted service for clients.
