WHAT STEPS CAN AFRICAN ENTERPRISES TAKE TO BUILD AN INCLUSIVE AND DIVERSE TECHNOLOGY WORKFORCE DRIVING GREATER WOMEN ’ S PARTICIPATION IN TECHNOLOGY CAREER ROLES ?
EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
WHAT STEPS CAN AFRICAN ENTERPRISES TAKE TO BUILD AN INCLUSIVE AND DIVERSE TECHNOLOGY WORKFORCE DRIVING GREATER WOMEN ’ S PARTICIPATION IN TECHNOLOGY CAREER ROLES ?
Engaging girls in cybersecurity from an early age is crucial for nurturing a long-term interest in the field . Initiatives like hackathons , boot camps , and skills programmes are excellent ways to engage girls and young women and introduce them to the world of digital security . Executives from Mukuru , ESET and Duxbury Networking , share their experiences in boosting diversity and inclusion in the workplace .
SAVINA HARRILALL , CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER , MUKURU across the continent . It is hardly a surprise as a business , Mukuru gets excited about the annual SheHacks hackathon , which in partnership with software development skills academy WeThinkCode , gives talented young women , including female students from the bursary programme , the opportunity to showcase their skills and compete .
It is important that businesses practise what they preach . The important heads of departments in Mukuru are women , including compliance , legal , diversity , equity , inclusivity , belonging , and learning enablement , people acquisition , customer experience , communications and brand , business projects . Harrilall , heads the people function for the group and drives a culture of inclusivity as a strategic imperative and not a box-ticking exercise .
Technology has traditionally been a maledominated industry , and so Mukuru ’ s strides in women empowerment , as evidenced by its own workforce , is the result of full buy-in across the business .
Mukuru is proud that its CIO is a woman . She is the driving force behind the business ’ s technology and digital innovation that is driving financial inclusion
Mukuru also focuses on learnerships in partnership with the sector SETA . The Sunbeamer Learnership 2024 is its 12-month learning and workplace experience journey . Besides giving access to a potential pool of talent , it is designed to help support a skilled workforce in general , that includes talented young women . Mukuru ’ s leadership development programme this year has additional female representation as compared to previous cohorts .
26 INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA www . intelligentcio . com