Gebeya and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), through the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) signed a $500,000 advisory service agreement to implement the Digital-Gender Program with aims to grow the number of female software developers in Ethiopia. The project will train 250 female software developers and provide seed funding to 20 female entrepreneurs, whose digital business ideas are supported by Gebeya. The entrepreneurs will receive business development strategic guidance from Gebeya and advisory services from IFC worth $50,000.
Gebeya seeks to bridge the gap women face in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). This initiative will play a major role in closing these gaps. Amadou Daffe, CEO and Co-founder, Gebeya said: “The project will enable the company to increase its scope beyond the current student-paid model to include a cohort of female software developers whose training will be financed through this scholarship program.”
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He continued, “African women constitute 50 percent of Africa’s population but only contribute 39 percent to its Gross Domestic Product. This is a result of their inability to afford tuition, societal misconception around women and their career abilities, inadequate familial support as well as gender stereotypes. We can no longer stand back and watch as intelligent, capable African women are pushed to the sidelines. We have to do our part to close the gender gap in technology where females are highly underrepresented.”
Gebeya will identify the talented candidates who will benefit from the program based on needs. The training will be conducted in four, six-month consecutively; Henriette Kolb, Manager, IFC Gender Secretariat said, “IFC is committed to helping women find opportunities through skills development that lead to good-paying jobs. Gebeya’s training differs from others in the market through its blended curriculum that includes basic and advanced programming and real-world, job-readiness skills.”
The IFC Creating Markets Advisory Window will fund the first phase of the Digital Gender-Ethiopia Program and the second will be funded by We-Fi.
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