Accra, Ghana//-Although the participation of women and girls in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Ghana remained low, with a significant gender gap in terms of access to technology and contribution to the digital economy, one young Ghanaian Information Technology (IT) professional woman is on a grand mission to change this status quo.
Her name is Ms Zuhaila Dobia Abdullah, a multitalented and award-winning founder, speaker, software developer, and digital transformation consultant who is on a determined mission to train one million girls in technology across the length and breadth of the country by the year 2030.
She has embarked on this mission through her organisation, Divaloper, a leading social enterprise that educates, inspires, empowers, and mentors females of diverse backgrounds in the latest technologies in the country.
Ms Abdullah is getting one million girls into technology through partnerships, building products, getting girls interested in technology, doing campaigns, and leveraging in-house resources.
We are trying to get more money to be able to pump into Divaloper so that we can train more girls. It is by literately sticking to the vision and not trying to do way too much, she emphasised.
“In the next three years, we should be almost closing the gap on our goal to train one million girls in technology. We should have had numerous of our girls working in these big technology companies.
We should have success stories from people in marginalised communities who did not have any vision or goal to think that they could work in technology currently work in technology. And we should have come with certain policies and suggestions to the government and the Ghanaian people on the reason why we have limited girls in technology and why we need more ladies in technology”.
Ms Abdullah added: “If you are a woman and you are reading this, the sky is your limit, and you can do everything you want to do, especially if you stay focused. If you are a guy reading this, please help your sister, your auntie, or your mother get into technology because technology is the future. And if you are not into technology, please join the technology field”.
What drove her into IT
When African Eye Report caught up with Ms Abdullah in Accra on one of her numerous IT knowledge-sharing sessions and asked: “What drove you into IT?” she answered: “What drove me into IT was I had a dad who was already technology savvy, so it was easier for him to help me have technology tools when I was growing up”.
Ms Abdullah, who is the founder of Divaloper, continued: “I didn’t know that I could grow that as a career, but I just like the fact that I was with computers, and I used to learn how to type, used my laptop in everything. So, I was always doing well in school when it came to IT and everything until I went to the university, and I saw a very interesting course, Computing with Accounting, and I chose it because I wanted to see what the future would bring to me”.
I grew my interest in IT by just continuously using IT tools. I was fast with them, like very sharp. If you give me a technology tool, I don’t know how, but I just know how to use it even if it is the first time, I’m just good with IT. So, it was easy for me to just grow my interest in it, continuously learn it, continuously top the class, and continuously teach my peers when it comes to IT and everything. So, that is how I grew my interest in IT”.
Entrepreneurial traits
Ms Abdullah, like the several entrepreneurs profiled by this publication, attributed her entrepreneurial traits to her family. She explained that her entrepreneurial traits started from her family because her dad owned one of the busiest internet cafes at Alajo T-Junction, a major road intersection in Accra. So, she used to always go there after school to help and use and browse the internet.
Her mum also had a boutique where she used to sell clothes and things from outside the country. So, growing up she always saw her parents having more than one job. So, she always knew that she was somebody who was going to create her own company or create something aside from just having a white-coloured job.
“So, when I was in the university also with everything that I was doing and the clubs that I was part of, there were enough tools at the University for Development Studies (UDS) where you come out with an entrepreneurship idea, and then you pitch the idea among other studies of which I was one of the presenters, and we topped second nationwide.
So that sparked the whole entrepreneurship idea for me I knew that coming out of school didn’t warrant me to come and just sit idle. So, when I finished my national service, I started a business with my kid sister called Srado business, where we sold bags, shoes, and everything”.
Whilst doing that, Ms Abdullah still had a start-up called Grind in Tamale, of which she was the co-director, and so they were pushing for entrepreneurship with one of her mentors in Tamale. She worked hands-on with organisations like Hopein Academy to stir the entrepreneurship ideas of the youth in Tamale until she started Divaloper on her own, which is also into entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship journey
As she stated, her entrepreneurship journey has been sweet because it hasn’t been difficult. This is because she hasn’t gotten to a point where she has to give up, glory be to God. But it is something that she has to always think about.
She always comes up with ideas and solutions to ensure that the organisation sustains the business. The IT executive and radio show host revealed that they have two other new products that will be unveiled very soon. These new products are Divaloper Media and Divakid.
In the technology space, “it is like you must always be thinking where you are getting the money to pay people, where you are getting money to do this, what kind of idea do you think is going to solve problems. So, it is being a roller coaster, it is being impactful, it is being good, it is being empowering, and it is inspiring for me”.
Doing differently
We are always thinking about the solutions for the people that we are serving who are our customers and not client-based, and we are also making sure that we are not exaggerating the issue and that we are staying focused on what the vision is.
Professional Journey
Her professional journey has been marked by a commitment to leveraging technology for social good and empowerment, particularly among youth and women. Through initiatives like startup Grind Tamale and the Grow with Google program, she has championed entrepreneurship and tech literacy.
She founded Divaloper, a leading NGO in 2019 aimed to inspire, train and mentor more women to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), particularly in technology, leadership and fostering the personal growth of adolescent girls and young women in Ghana. Over the years, Divaloper has actively empowered over 6000 Africans through training, media campaigns, mentorship, events, and online campaigns.
Legacy
Her legacy is one as she wants to be known as the woman from Savelugu in the Northern Region to stir conversations and have more girls venture into technology not did they venture into technology, but they created jobs, they created companies, and they owned so many successful technology companies that contribute to the development of this country.
She also wants to be seen as a leader who was bold enough to make certain decisions to help change the status quo of the Ghanaian people and bring inspiring change to her community and in the country at large.
Advice
The first advice she gives is that young people should tailor their businesses or ventures to solve the numerous problems in their communities or countries. Emphasising it is one thing: just want to be an entrepreneur and just have a company, but what solutions are you bringing or what problems are you solving, that is the advice. Always try to find a solution to a problem.
She continued: “Don’t be in a hurry to scale fast. I learned this from a good friend of mine. Don’t be in a hurry to scale fast; don’t be in a hurry to open so many big branches or offices.
Take it slow and build. Build by authenticity, build your acumen, build your client base, build your products, build your solutions, just build slowly and you will get there”.
Education
With a strong foundation in Computing and accounting from the UDS, Ms Abdullah holds a master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Ghana and is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
Sought-after speaker
Ms Abdullah’s dedication extends to her role as an experienced, sought-after speaker on topics such as women empowerment, technology, leadership, and the future of work at over 50 events and numerous schools.
She has been invited to speak and deliberate on technology and national development at events such as the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), UN Development Programme (UNDP), Southern Africa Embrace Foundation, and EU Ghana, amongst others.
She is also experienced media personnel who has worked as a producer and host for shows on Ghanaian TV, radio and YouTube, including TechTV (Joy news) and Tech Monday (Asaase Radio), where she highlights impactful tech personalities and entrepreneurs in Ghana and deliberates on the need for more technology advancements in Ghana and Africa.
Ms Abdullah is determined to make Ghana a better place, one community at a time.
