When you hear “Tech” what comes to your mind are Men. Well, while it might seem that women in tech are slowly coming into parity with men and the numbers are not climbing quickly enough, individuals and organizations are stepping up to achieve gender balance and speed up cultural change in the male-dominated tech industry. One of such women disrupting the tech sector in Africa is Ethel Delali Cofie.
Ethel Delali Cofie is a Ghanaian IT professional, entrepreneur and consultant and founder of Women in Tech Africa, Africa’s largest women in tech group, with members in over 30 Africa countries and in the diaspora and growing. Over the years, WiTA has strategically focused on enabling women to drive Africa’s growth story and create impact on personal life through technology. Currently, its target audience comprises aspiring female tech entrepreneurs between the ages of 18-40.
Women in Tech Africa is the largest group on the continent with membership across 30 countries globally with physical chapters in Ghana, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Somaliland, Ireland, Kenya, Tanzania and Mauritius.
The initiative is focused on
- Encouraging more women to step into the technology sector and take up leadership positions in technological fields.
- Creating a pipeline for females to choose STEM Scareers.
- Encouraging women into the STEM entrepreneurial space.
Ethel has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the Valley View University in Ghana, a master’s degree in Distribution Systems from the University of Brighton and an Executive Degree in Leadership, Business and Entrepreneurship from the Yale School of Management. Ethel has held various technology and commercial roles in her previous work in the United Kingdom, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, has also worked with Vodafone Ghana as Head of Commercial Solutions, has been featured on BBC, has had her opinion pieces published on CNN on the topics of technology in emerging markets, and women leadership and is on the board of companies across Africa including Ego tickets and AMOSS Holdings SA.
Asides being named one of the Top 5 Women impacting IT in Africa, Ethel is CEO and Founder of EDEL Technology Consulting, an IT Consulting Company in West Africa and Europe who was recently named IT Consulting Firm of the year by the Telecoms and IT Industry. Ethel is a High caliber IT Professional with a wealth of technical and commercial skills acquired across a wide range of demanding roles and over 12 years’ experience working in the UK ,Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone on projects for organizations like Bill and Melinda Gates Mobile Technology for Health project, the Ford Foundation’s Election Monitoring project for Nigeria and as Head of Commercial Solutions for Vodafone conceptualizing, executing and working with teams to align Corporate strategy to IT strategy and to develop and manage creative technology solutions.
She has been recognized across:
- Fellow of United States President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative Network (YALI)
- Named one of the Top 5 Women impacting IT in Africa
- Shortlisted for United Nations GEM Tech Award in October 2014.
- 100 Most Outstanding Women Entrepreneurs In Ghana
- Africa Woman of Influence in Business: ICT Category
- Africa’s Leading Women in IT
- Recognised as Africa’s Most Influential Woman in Business and Government for ICT by CEO Global
- USA Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker mentioned Ethel Cofie in her 2014 Global Entrepreneurship summit speech in Morocco
You definitely cannot celebrate tech without acknowledging Ethel can you?
