Tech4Dev Partners Sterling Bank to Enhance Women Employment in Tech

Emma Okonji

Building on its quest to grow a diverse and inclusive team, Sterling Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Technology for Social Change and Development Initiative (Tech4Dev), a non-profit social enterprise, working to provide access to decent work for Africans through digital and technology skills empowerment and advocacy.

At the signing ceremony held recently at the Marina Headquarters of the financial institution in Lagos, Sterling Bank officially committed to partner with the Tech4Dev as an experiential learning partner for its Women Techsters initiative.

The Women Techsters is an initiative of Tech4Dev aimed at bridging the digital divide between men and women in the technology ecosystem, with plans to empower five million women across Africa with digital and deep tech skills by 2030.

The organisation is currently in partnership with Microsoft to empower 10,000 women in 2021 across five African countries, which include Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Tech4Dev’s Co-founder and Executive Director, Oladiwura Oladepo reiterated the importance of the partnership with Sterling Bank.

According to Oladepo, “Gender equality is at the heart of what we do at Tech4Dev and is a huge part of our Women Techsters initiative. We are delighted about forward-thinking organizations like Sterling Bank, who are thinking of what the workforce will look like in the next two, three, five years and the importance of gender balance within the ecosystem. At the end of the internship period, we want Sterling Bank to be able to say they got value from the interns.”

The Chief Digital Officer at Sterling Bank, Olayinka Oni, spoke on the company’s desire to build a diverse team. “Diversity is not a compliance agenda, it is an intentional strategy. Internship for us is also intentional. We are interested in any project that grows the ecosystem like the Women Techsters initiative,” Oni said.

Some of the Women Techsters Fellows across the five countries are presently in the final week of their intensive training and will be direct beneficiaries of this partnership with Sterling Bank on a six-month internship period with the company.

Others present at the signing, were, Head, Enterprise Solutions Engineering, Sterling Bank, Chigozie Anyasor; Head, Organisation Development and Talent Acquisition, Sterling Bank, Dipo Adebajo; Executive Director, Tech4Dev, Oladiwura Oladepo; Communications Lead, Tech4Dev, Yemisi Arowosafe; and Women Techsters Programme Associate, Tech4Dev, Joy Uche, among others.