A total of 29 women from Uganda have been admitted to the class of 2023 of the Women Techsters Fellowship, Technology for Social Change and Development Initiative (Tech4Dev).
The women were announced on Wednesday in Lagos, Nigeria.
The Women Techsters initiative is aimed at bridging the digital and technology knowledge divide between men and women as well as ensuring equal access to opportunities for all.
The followship received a total of 121 applications from Uganda, while only 29 sailed through the rigorous requirements needed to become a beneficiary.
The women will be trained in mobile development, software development, product design, product management, cyber security, data science/ artificial intelligence engineering, blockchain and mixed reality/3D.
Speaking at the announcement press conference, Women Techsters Initiative Lead, Blessing Ashi, revealed that the process of selection was rigorous as the program requires only the best and most dedicated fellows.
“We started the registration process in March 2022 and we had three stages of assessments for the beneficiaries and I can categorically say that we have selected the best based on the performance of beneficiaries across all the three stages,” Ashi said.
“I want to say congratulations to everyone who made it this far and I hope that the skills to be acquired during this learning phase will stand you out amongst your peers. Stay true to the program and I wish you the best,” Ashi added.
Co-founder and executive director at Tech4Dev, Oladiwura Oladepo, encouraged the beneficiaries to give their 100 per cent to the program.
“Congratulations for making it into the fellowship but I must tell you that this is the time to put in work because without putting in the effort, success may not be guaranteed. It takes long hours, sometimes sleepless nights but I can assure you that success is just around the corner if you stay dedicated,” he said.
Oladepo added that their goal is to train 5 million women across Africa by 2030 and believes that when the call for application comes for the next fellowship calendar, they will have not just more applicants from Uganda but more beneficiaries.
The Women Techsters Fellowship, launched in 2021, is a year-long immersive training and experiential learning program for young girls and women across Africa to acquire deep tech skills through 6 months of intensive training, 6-month internship, and mentorship.
In all, a total of 1,466 beneficiaries were admitted to the Class of 2022/23 of the fellowship from a pool of 14,509 who applied from 15 African countries which equals to about 10 percent of total applications.
However, 16 beneficiaries from other countries around the world not captured in the original list of 15 African countries were also granted admissions.
