The hub held its first Legal Clinic at Yabans Restaurant Wuse 2 on 17th March 2016 with over 15 women and men in attendance. The event sought to unbundle business registration and taxation in Nigeria, sourcing and receiving start-up funding, with an open session for questions. The event was supported and live streamed on radio by Amplified Radio.
The opening session featured introduction of women, and business registration procedures. Miss Nana Nwachukwu urged start-up companies to register their business as business names and not as Limited Liability Company or NGO’s with Corporate Affairs Commission. She gave reasons for that, and explained exceptions too.
Miss Bukola, another volunteer lawyer in the room led the session on taxes and remittances, admonishing business owners to avoid penalties by ensuring their books were in order. She enlightened attendees on the two types of business registrations; business name and limited liability company registrations.
Also, attendees were intimated on a potential grant and benefits for the Association of Poultry Farmers in Abuja and the need for people working in the space to join the body.
Participants asked questions around trademarking, copyrights, and funding management. Fatima Bashir, one of the attendees asked which registration should come first for her new cosmetics business; Corporate Affairs Commission or Trademark body. It opened up a new discussion around trademarks, and how they “protect brand names, logo and other designs that identify your products to your customer.” Instances where either form of registration came first were given, with attendees told to strive to achieve both before commencing operations.
Andy Madaki, a cyber and info security analyst anchored the last session, with a talk on funding a business. Mr Andy advised attendees to raise money from their immediate environment (family), social media channels, international agencies in line with their pattern of business, grants, and scholarships from embassies. Mr Andy shared several funding opportunities available to Nigerians by several foreign bodies.
The programme ended with closing remarks from Nana Nwachukwu and a networking session. Attendees left with branded gift items from TechHer.
TechHer NG, a community that aims to demystify technology for women in Nigeria, partnered with Social Media Week Lagos to produce ‘The Digital Woman: Creating safe, aware, and empowered citizens’ at the just concluded week-long social media and technology conference.
Speaking on the need for the session, Chioma Agwuegbo, Founder of TechHer NG, said, “Technology remains the most sustainable gateway for the promotion and protection of women in our society today. We decided to show women, via our experts, the various ways technology can solve problems, to inspire them but also to equip them with the tools to do it themselves.”
Featuring a diversity of perspectives drawn from experts on advocacy, politics, business, and innovation, participants engaged with Cynthia Mbamalu, Program Manager at YIAGA Africa and member of the Strategy Team of the Not Too Young To Run Movement. She shared experiences on building the most successful youth movement on the continent in recent times, and galvanizing youth energy via social media to successfully advocate for a reduction in age for political candidacy in Nigeria.
They listened to Angel Yinkore, a psychologist from Stand To End Rape Initiative who spoke about technology being the bridge between data and the humanization of the stories of survivors. She also spoke about driving crowdfunding campaigns via digital. Angel represented Ayodeji Osowobi, the Founder of Stand To End Rape Initiative.
Ized Uanikhehi, Founder of Digiclan Africa, taught participants practical lessons on building a career as a digital marketer. Using the story of her growth and success as a lever, the digital evangelist, with over ten years as a marketer enjoined participants to embrace networking events with strategic intentions.
Bankole Oluwafemi, the only man on the panel, discussed the power of technology in forcing difficult conversations around women’s rights. He also, in honor of Safer Internet Day, gave practical tips for attendees to protect themselves online. He taught on the use of password managers, but also implored attendees to utilize sanction tools provided by social media platforms to protect themselves from trolling, cyberbullying, and other forms of abuse.
The session, which was well attended, featured a raffle draw with guests winning lots of prizes, and a question/answer session, affording the guests opportunities to interact with the experts.
The Digital Woman, which held on the 8th of February 2018, was part of the 7th edition of the larger Social Media Week conference hosted in 12 cities around the world. The theme of this years event was “Stories: With Great Influence Comes Great Responsibility”
In a bid to increase global recognition amongst African women, TechHer partnerned with Wiki Media UG to organise WikiLovesWomen training on Friday the 18th and Saturday the 19th of November 2016 at African University of Science and Technology (AUST) Galadimawa Abuja . The event had over 35 registered participant. We had participants from Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) as well as women from the TechHer community. The event is in line with Wikipedia's vision to increase the number of African women profiled on Wikipedia's page. Currently, the percentage of African women profiled on Wikipedia is almost insignificant. The project was set up to teach African women on how to create accounts and profile women on Wikipedia. Hence, the name "Wiki Loves Women". It was an opportunity to learn from the Wiki team, have practical sessions on how to use Wikipedia for profiling and also ask questions.
The event started with an opening speech by TechHer's Programmes Officer; Onyejekwulum Adii. The Director of Wikimedia UG Nigeria also gave a briefing on what the project was about and why Wikimedia has decided to embark on it .
Mr. Sam Oyeleye; a Team member from Wiki Loves Women took the next session on Introduction to Wikipedia. Wikipedia's fliers was also shared to all participants. The Wiki team and Reps from TechHer helped participants set up their computers and connected them to the internet, and Wikipedia's website. He went further to discuss Wikipedia's Notability criterias- Editing biography pages.
Mr. Olaniyan Olushola, Director of Wikimedia UG Nigeria took the next training on Wikipedia's copyright violations which was followed by a lunch break.
'Wiki markup' and 'Guide to uploading and use of images on common Wiki Commons: Copyright violation' was also taken by the Director; Mr. Olaniyan Olushola.
To round up with day 1, there was an interactive session where participants asked questions and were guided to the appropriate answers to their questions. Participants who answered questions correctly were given TechHer's customised T-Shirt courtesy of TechHerNG.
The second day started with a recap on the previous days teachings by Mr. Olushola and Mr. Sam. It was a practical session termed 'Edit-a-thorn', participants were taught how to create profiles and references on Wikipedia. Participants were subdivided into 5 groups and were given a task to create profiles for specific names given to each group.
The event wrapped with a networking session and exchange of contacts amongst participants, TechHer team and the Wiki team.
The event was made possible through the support of Wiki Media UG Nigeria, Wiki Africa, GOETHE Institute, African University of Science and Technology and Tangent Hub.
Women encounter various barriers ranging from unconscious bias from parents, societal perception on certain careers, harassment etc. Nevertheless, 2018 is proving to be the year women are asked to push for progress, propelling them to break stereotypes and expand their horizons.
Technology and social media have been some of the drivers for Nigerian women in learning, creating awareness and advocating for issues affecting them. So many opportunities are embedded in technology, though it still fails to attract or retain more women.
Reinforcing female participation in technology is important because of the resultant increase in employment opportunities which weakens the effect of gender inequality, bridges the gender gap in technology and boosts the global economy.
Across the world, more people are speaking up about gender disparity in technology and ways of bridging the digital divide for women. Emphasis is being made on the impact of providing support, mentorship and active encouragement for women at the beginning of their careers, thus nurturing an ecosystem were women thrive in the ever-changing landscape of technology.
TechHerNG is empowering women to demystify technology and helping young people increase their skillset through technology. In making major strides and swaying the interest of more women to change the status quo, TechHerNG partnered with Aspillo Foundation to help 40 women access concrete information and skills that can be used to chart a core tech or tech-enabled career at the Civic Innovation Lab, Abuja.
With four women working in technology discussing their career paths, challenges, and opportunities: Nnena Nwakanma, the Senior Manager Anna Brandusescu, Research and Policy Officer of World Web Foundation, Elizabeth Kolade and Farida Kabir, participants went away with a bigger sense of possibilities as to how they can develop a career in technology and make global impact.
With a track record of thriving in the tech industry, Nnenna sparked interest and engagement amongst participants with valuable insights around how she leveraged on leaving lasting moments and creating the right impression as a catalyst for her growth in the tech industry.
Rejoice Aikohi, a software developer had a practical learning session with the participant on how to build a website. Lara Raji, the Programs Manager for TechHerNG, provided plausible ways in which technology usage can create social impact. It was a significant step forward for most of the women in the room because it got them talking about the how and why of making social impact within society. It was a free flow of ideas amongst women and also provided a safe, constructive environment for women to participate and have their ideas become part of a solution, showing how organizations are moving the needle for startups and women in tech.
TechHerNG, a social enterprise for women in tech engages fellow women within the sector by providing a safe space for demystifying technology through TechHerMeets. TechHerMeets holds every first Friday of the month and has been in existence since March 2017. It has helped attendees learn new skills, make valuable connections and have access to one on one mentoring.
This month edition is in collaboration with DigiClanAfrica and Civic Innovation Lab. The DigiClan community is a community of people working in the Digital Media industry committed to the growth of the Industry, to learn from each other, to collaborate, to foster networking between members, to inspire growth in the Industry and set standards that will ensure that we all grow together.
The meetup will focus more on training the community members on using digital marketing skills to drive growth within the business sector across Africa. The theme for the event is "Digital storytelling and Data." , We have amazing lined up trainers for the 2 hours intensive digital marketing session.
Our trainers for the day is Muyiwa Alesh who will be training on Content Strategy, Ized Uanikhehi - Content Marketing, Ken Ndubisi core strength is on effective Facebook Advertising while Caroline Wabara will delve into using Search Engine Optimization.
The event is scheduled to hold at the Civic Innovation Lab, No 50, Ademola Adetokunbo Crescent, Wuse 2 Abuja, on Friday, 2nd of February, 2017. Click on the link for registration. Attendance is free! It is a free day of learning, innovation and using strategic concept to enhance the use of digital skills in your business. We've got snacks ,and swag items for the first 5 attendees.
Remember to come with your complementary cards, your next gig might be from this event! Time to learn together.
For more information you can always call our Program manager -Lara Raji on 09083041940 or visit our social media handles; we are @TechHerNG on socials, we are one DM away from you.
TechHer Meets, a monthly networking event for women, held its debut event in Abuja yesterday the 30th of March, 2017 at 3J’s Hotel, Jabi, Abuja. TechHer Meets was designed to demystify technology, provide a safe, fun space for practical learning and foster economic empowerment by encouraging collaborations. The event seeks to provide an offline component for TechHer’s online activities.
The event featured three speakers; Simi Fajemirokun of ESFAJ and Partners, Stella Uzochuwku – Denis of Odyssey Foundation and Judy Melifonwu from IBM who shared of their experiences working as entrepreneurs, employees, and social enterprise owners. The sessions were interactive and an opportunity for knowledge sharing across a variety of topics.
Attendees won TechHer branded items from the networking competition and there was a table laden with drinks and snacks for everyone to feast on.
The two-hour long event also featured a question and answer session themed security which shared information on data privacy day, two-step verification and acceptable passwords.
The event ended with 14 of the attendees signing up for a free digital marketing class TechHer offered the women as a welcome gift.
TechHer Meets holds on the last Friday of every month. It is an initiative of TechHer, a community of learning, support and collaboration for women working with technology either as the core of their function or as an enabler.
TechHer is online as @TechHer NG on Facebook, Twitter,and Instagram is home at techherng.com and can be reached via 09083041940.
TechHer, a community of learning, support, and collaboration for women in technology extended a hand of fellowship to Abuja Technology Village (ATV) via a courtesy call paid to its MD Ms. Hauwa Yabani on Thursday the 8th of December 2016.
Received by the MD and ATV's Business Development Manager Ibrahim Bashir, the delegation from TechHer told the story of the growing community, its vision, and goals, highlighting successes recorded and plans for the coming year. Specifically, TechHer's Continuous Learning and Development Programme (CLDP), several research strands, and the Mothers and Daughters Outreach were presented as potential projects for co-ownership. MD Hauwa Yabani said of the proposed partnership, "TechHer and ATV perfectly align on the creation of a viable platform to encourage women and girls into STEM and then attract them to the ATV."
Mr. Bashir took the team on an extended presentation of the vision for the Abuja Technology Village, changes that have been made to the original development plans, and the sheer enormity of the project designed to be Africa's leading technology and innovation district. The eco-friendly village designed to function without any generating sets will house about 40,000 people and see another 100,000 use the various facilities on-site. Construction is on schedule and will see the first set of structures completed in 2019.
Hauwa Yabani, MD of ATV shared her passion and excitement at the responsibility of leading the team, and about Women Innovation Hub (Winnohub); a specialist conducive atmosphere for women (single, married, employed or not) to congregate and innovate.
Speaking of Enspire Incubator which housed TechHer in its first few months of existence, the MD said, "Enspire was born out of the thought that the heartbeat of any science park is a functional incubator, and fits into our goals of attracting foreign Direct Investment, building local capacity, and encouraging STEM education".
The meeting ended with an agreement to sign a draft MOU containing short and long term goals forthwith, and the presentation of branded TechHer items to management.
Chioma Agwuegbo led TechHer's delegation which also had Programme Officer Onyejekwulum Adii and Researcher Lara Raji.
