Only 34.4% of women are hired at global tech companies, BuiltIn
Tech industry key for development of communities, economies
Ivy Barley, Lucy Quist and Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh are some of many women making strides
Over the years, the global tech industry has been largely dominated by men and Ghana is no exception to the norm.
Despite being a critical component for the transformation and development of economies, there still remains the issue of gender diversity and balance at the top positions of these tech firms.
Already, the five largest tech companies in the world namely Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft are said to have a workforce of only 34.4 percent women, according to stats from BultIn, a New York-based online community for startups and tech companies.
While this disparity may still exist, some notable Ghanaian women are making strides in various fields of the tech space. From being poached to leading key units of tech companies, the term ‘Women in Tech’ is likely to become a catch-up phrase in the years to come.
GhanaWeb in this article sheds light on some Ghanaian women who are regardless smashing it on the international corporate scene.
Ivy Barley
We first start off with Ivy Barley who currently works as a Program Manager and Data Scientist at Microsoft’s Headquarters in the United States of America. For most of her job, she uses complex machine learning algorithms to build predictive models for meaningful information and business decisions.
Barley is a young and vibrant mathematician who is tirelessly working her way up the ladder in the global tech space.
After graduating from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology at Kumasi and earning a bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science and a Master’s degree in Mathematical Statistics, Barley’s passion for teaching and mentoring young girls led her to co-found Developers in Vogue.
First set up in 2017, Developers in Vouge is a female-focused Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) organisation for highly skilled developers who seek to use technology to bring change to communities and beyond.
Ivy’s organisation also offers training, mentorship, job placement and business incubation for African women in tech. She has continued to mentor many young women.
Lucy Quist
Lucy Quist is a Ghanaian-British business and technology executive.
Quist is currently a Managing Director for Morgan Stanley, an American-owned multinational investment bank and financial services company.
Her journey first started as an Electrical and Electronic Engineer at Ford Motor Company where she also attained her Chartered Engineer certification.
Shortly after, Quist joined the Bank of Scotland as a change manager before venturing into technology and telecommunications in 2008.
During that time, she worked at Millicom International Cellular in various capacities. She was later appointed Head of Strategy and Planning at Vodafone’s Ghanaian subsidiary.
Following her stint at Vodafone Ghana, Lucy Quist was named Chief Executive of Airtel Ghana where she pushed for more youth participation in STEM. She also co-founded FreshPay, a digital payment platform located in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Angela Kyerematen Jimoh
To cap it off, Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh is the latest to make herself and Ghana proud after being appointed as the strategic partner lead for Africa at Microsoft’s new Africa Transformation Office.
Prior to joining Microsoft, she was the first female and first African Executive Director/Regional Head for IBM North, East and West Africa, where she advanced IBM’s Hybrid Cloud and AI momentum across 35 countries in Africa.
She has over 20 years of experience in leadership, sales and marketing across the financial services and technology sector, balanced between global and domestic stints.
Kyerematen-Jimoh who is an alumna of the Harvard Business School has also worked for UBS Investment Bank and ABN AMRO in the UK.
She previously served as Head of Consumer Banking for GT Bank Ghana and Head of Prestige Banking for UBA Bank Ghana. Angela currently sits on multiple boards including the board of the Central Bank of Ghana.