To commemorate International Women’s Day in March, The UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, a pillar of the UK government’s broader Digital Access Program (DAP), has announced collaboration with Google for Startups, Africa to award $3 million in Google Cloud credits to women founders in Nigeria.
The support is expected to subsidise cloud technology-related costs for startups, allowing them to focus on innovation, customer acquisition, and growth.
It will also help to promote digital inclusion and jointly support technology businesses run by women founders.
Speaking at an event hosted by the two organisations in Lagos, which brought together women founders, investors, and ecosystem stakeholders the Country Director, UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, Justina Oha said the event was aimed at helping women founders understand the technology funding landscape and position themselves to secure funding for their startups.
She said they are excited to announce collaboration with Google for Startups, which comes at a time when the world is celebrating International Women’s Day and the partnership is a prove of the UK- Nigeria Tech Hub commitment to supporting women founders and helping them reach their full potential pointing out that partnerships like this are one of the great ways that stakeholders can come together to advance Nigeria’s tech ecosystem at an accelerated pace.
For the Head of Startup Ecosystem Google Africa, Folarin Aiyegbusi, the collaboration is a unique opportunity to provide women founders with the support and resources they need to scale their businesses and contribute to the growth of Nigeria’s tech ecosystem he pointed out that Google for Startups, was committed to supporting startups and entrepreneurs around the world, and believe that empowering women founders is key to building a more diverse and inclusive tech industry.
Earlier in an INVESTOR PANEL entitled “” IT’S NOT ME IT’S YOU” WHY WOMEN FAIL TO RAISE FUNDING” The Managing Partner Octeraa Capital Mrs. Ashim Egunjobi emphasized on the need for women to consider a compatible spouse in their marriage decision as this goes a long way in having influence on the success of the woman emotionally and home front.
She regretted that a lot of women drop off in the middle management stages of their career because of marriage which includes getting support from their spouses and challenges of managing the home front.
Mrs. Egunjobi said girls also tends to shy away from science subjects including mathematics and this has resulted to few of them studying tech related courses in the university thereby having a huge gap.
The Chief Operating Officer of Imperial Capital Partners Mrs. Mary Akpobome said government should be very intentional about having women placed in strategic positions of leadership.
The UK- Nigeria Tech Hub is an initiative by the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sports (DCMS) to support the growth of the Technology ecosystem in Nigeria by promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the tech sector, leading to more trade and investment in the longer term.
The UK-Nigeria Tech Hub works to stimulate local digital economies, support inclusive and sustainable economic growth and jobs, build high-end digital skills, and forge innovation partnerships between Nigerian tech sectors and international businesses.
