In a bid to bridge the gender skills gap in tech, Vbank, a digital financial brand has upskilled over 1,000 women and girls with tech skills across 28 states in Nigeria.
According to a press statement by the brand, the 1,000+ beneficiaries of the maiden edition of the Makeathon initiative participated in a four-month free, capacity-building, digital literacy exercise which began in March 2022 and ended in June 2022.
“These women were equipped with relevant tech skills such as deep tech, digital marketing, data analytics, cybersecurity, product management, software programming, and soft skills,” it stated. It also added that the partnership also aims to tackle the scourge of unemployment by bridging the gender skills gap and helping more women embrace technology.
“The Makeathon initiative goes beyond upskilling girls and women between the ages of 18 to 45 years with requisite tech skills, to seeking internship opportunities for them in leading tech organisations in Nigeria and abroad.”
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Commenting at the graduation ceremony, Gbenga Omolokun, the managing director at VFD Microfinance Bank (VBank), said they were proud of the graduates and how far they have come to be here today. “It is inspiring to have women with zero tech skills come into the space to learn and showcase their talents.
We are committed to this initiative and will continue to do this to help more women achieve their tech goals,” Omolokun added Also, Ayumi Moore, the founder and chief executive officer at Women in Tech Global noted that the women have been equipped with digital skills they can deploy across sectors.
“We are proud to have contributed to helping 1,000 women gain employable skills they can use to drive the growth of the tech ecosystem,” Moore said.
Okosun Elizabeth, one of the beneficiaries of the initiative, said when she got the opportunity to learn software programming; she was super excited because it was a course, and she wanted to learn but couldn’t get the opportunity.
“At first, I thought I wouldn’t understand the whole magic behind coding but when classes started, coding became a walk in the park. Thank you, Vbank and Women in Tech Nigeria for this wonderful opportunity.” Thus far, more than 10 global tech firms have committed to offering some of the beneficiaries, who graduated last week, internship opportunities to put their skills to the test.
