“When I was employed at a large international bank, there was a scene that repeated itself over and over again. Whether it was necessary to make coffee or take notes in a meeting, all eyes were on me. However, I assure you, I am a computer scientist! “ At 38, Regina Honu says she has “Seen everything” in a tech world still dominated by men, in Ghana as everywhere else. “I have faced discrimination, sexism, stereotypes, she enumerates. In short, the total. “
When she launched into IT in 2002, the young woman was still a pioneer. “We were three girls in my class at Ashesi University, she says. At the beginning, it was very hard, I almost dropped everything. I worked really hard, writing code day and night. It ended up becoming like a second language for me. And in the second year of university, I got my first job. “
Two developer contracts follow in international banks, where Regina Honu quickly tires of the sexist bullying of her colleagues, of the infamous rumors that pursue her and of the discrimination of her hierarchy, who pays her less than a man. She then left to try her luck on the other side of the Atlantic, at Microsoft.
“When I arrived in Seattle for the job interview, I was made to wait in a room reserved for candidates, she remembers. And in this room there was a table with a built-in touch screen. I was amazed! You could choose the animation “aquarium” and we saw fish swimming on the table. At that moment, I said to myself: “How is it that we cannot create this kind of innovation in Ghana?” ”
A Business Center within the academy
In a country where 9.2% of the youth are unemployed, the temptation to “Leak” is strong for brains: it is estimated that half of the health professionals trained in Ghana work in an OECD country. “I knew that if I moved to the United States, I would not come back to Ghana, admits Regina Honu. But I wanted to help, on my own terms, to concretely solve the problems of my country. “
Her decision made, she embarked on social entrepreneurship and in 2017 founded the Soronko Academy (“Unique” in Twi language), in the elegant residential area of East Legon, Accra. Its ambition is to teach computers to marginalized groups: its benches parade Ghanaian women aged 18 to 35, refugees, disabled children, autistic or deaf and dumb. But also children of well-off parents, girls and boys alike. The latter are the only ones who pay to study at Soronko Academy and their tuition fees partly finance the training of others, who benefit from it free of charge.
Another part of the school’s income comes from partnerships with organizations like GIZ, the German International Development Cooperation Agency, which sponsors the refugee education program. The rest comes from the Business Center integrated into the academy, where graduates work for three months after leaving school.
“They develop remote sites and applications for businesses and thus learn to build a network and negotiate a price. It’s a transition between school and the job market, summarizes Regina Honu. They receive a salary, but we also take a share to pay for the training of subsequent promotions. “ The method has been proven: half of graduates start their business after leaving school and 30 to 40% of them find paid employment.
Shatter the glass ceiling
Regina Honu’s fuchsia pink braids and warm manners don’t quite fit the austere image of a school principal, but the students are not mistaken. “I want to be like her, exclaims Charity Dzifa on his way. In a few years, when we talk about IT in Ghana, people will immediately think of my name. “
The 22-year-old started a six-week training course at Soronko Academy last week to learn the basics of web development. “I want to understand everything, to know how it works, she ignites. Tech is my passion. This training was made for me. “
His girlfriend interrupts him: her passion is business. At 24, Nicholwen Addy started her small business selling products from the north of the country – “Fabrics, clothes and shea butter” – and would like to make it take off. “I want to learn digital marketing, IT development and Web design, she hammers. I know there is a glass ceiling, but I’m going to shatter it. Now that trailblazers have led the way, women are going to start taking more and more space in tech and I want to be part of it. And you will see, I will become one of the most influential business women in Ghana. “
Little by little, Ghana is closing its gender gap in the digital world. 29.4% of women now have access to the Internet against 31.2% of men. This is little but much more than in 2016: only 20% of Ghanaian women were present online at the time. However, the Covid-19 pandemic could have put a stop to this momentum, underlines Regina Honu. Ghana immediately put strict sanitary measures in place and schools were closed for almost ten months.
“Switching to distance education was not easy. For our students, the first obstacle is access to a computer, the second is the price of Internet data. Not everyone can afford to stream lessons. The third obstacle concerned our students who are mothers. They had to take care of their home twice as much, manage their children who no longer went to school… The pressure that weighed on their shoulders increased ”, specifies the entrepreneur.
When schools reopened in January, classes immediately resumed at Soronko Academy. With a surprise: the number of registration requests had climbed. “ The pandemic has made us aware of the importance of digital technology, sums up Nicholyn Addy, who is one of the new recruits. Whether you want to educate yourself, learn, buy or sell, it’s all online. So we have to learn how it works! This is the bright side, if I may say so, of the pandemic: without Covid-19, I would never have been interested in tech and I would not be here today. “