Business
Challenges and Opportunities – Global Survey Results on Women’s Tech Careers
New survey reveals COVID, cost of living crisis, skills shortages and lack of mentorship have negatively affected women’s career development in the past 2 years
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, March 8, 2023/APO Group/ —
52% believe women’s careers in tech suffered due to COVID-19 & cost-of-living crisis; 32% of those in the tech sector say they haven’t received a promotion for over 24 months; 68% see a skills shortage as a key barrier to entry; 21% of women in Africa tech roles are working more than one job to make ends meet; women still need better pay and better flexible working opportunities.
A new global survey of women and allies ahead of International Women’s Day (IWD) today, 8 March, held under the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’”, reveals that parity for women in technology-related positions and industries is still a way off, and suggests that COVID-19 has had a major role to play in blocking women’s advancement, along with a skills shortage, and that women are further hampered in their progression by a cost-of-living crisis and lack of access to funding.
The survey entitled, ‘A deep dive into challenges & opportunities for women’s tech careers and women-led enterprises across Asia, Europe and Africa’, attracted respondents from those three regions, with 45% of respondents who live and work in Africa, 38% based in Europe and 17% in Asia. The survey, conducted by global tech event Africa Tech Festival (http://www.AfricaTechFestival.com/) and tech news portal Connecting Africa (http://www.ConnectingAfrica.com/) in conjunction with London Tech Week and Asia Tech X Singapore, is part of a new annual benchmark survey mapping barriers faced by women in business, perceptions around why they cannot move forward, as well as potential solutions and opportunities to bridging the equality divide.
Challenges
The survey found that over half (56%) of respondents believed that when it came to the recent pandemic and to economic challenges in general, it was women who missed out on work opportunities, were forced to scale down work and take time off to care for children, as well as undertaking more household chores.
26% of the respondents believe women are more likely than men to have been denied access to financial support from governments, whilst a further 26% perceive women as shouldering most of the burden of childcare or care of other dependants in their households whilst juggling work responsibilities.
These compounded the challenges women in the increase of the cost of living, with a little over 2/3 of European and Asian women respondents’ employment situation was impacted by the cost-of-living crisis. However, that number increases to almost 81% of African women. The cost-of-living crisis seems to have a bigger impact in Africa than in Asia and Europe.
Working more than one job is increasingly commonplace – 15% revealed they used to be self-employed or own a business but have now taken another job whilst running their business on the side, with 21% of African respondents confirming they are now working two or more jobs, a greater proportion than their counterparts in Europe and Asia.
Whilst women still experience gender bias in the tech sector, overall, unemployment in the tech ecosystem was found to be less than other surveyed industry sectors, with just 2% of women tech workers across the three regions targeted made redundant over the past 24 months. 12% of those respondents are now working full time when they used to be unemployed and a further 16% are now working full-time up from their part time roles.
73% of women respondents across the three continents have seen their employment situation in the tech sector impacted by a lack of career development opportunities, with 32% revealing they had a pay loss and/or haven’t received a promotion for more than 24 months, although this could be due to the pervading economic climate.
Lack of funding and support for women in tech
The survey shows that women are still a long way from achieving equality when it comes to obtaining funding. Having a greater amount of women-focused business events and awards is perceived as one of the most powerful initiatives, which has helped women-led start-ups get better access to funding over the last 24 months. This is closely followed by more women in tech being championed in the press. African women, however, seem to struggle the most, with 19% saying it is now significantly more difficult to access funding.
We need to focus from the grassroots up and empower Africa’s young women to follow paths into STEM careers by providing better funding
Other factors that could lead to better support for women-led business and to encourage more women to enter the field, include the presence of more women-led venture capital funds and women-focused accelerator programmes.
Underlining this, and on a continent that is increasingly reliant on the start-up ecosystem for economic sustainability, Africa is where women (41%) struggle the most to launch a new business, whilst 68% of respondents believe skills shortage to be the biggest obstacle to women entering the sector.
Sadly, 40% of African women respondents believed it was more difficult for women to secure a pay rise in tech, whilst 41% said it was more difficult for women to achieve senior leadership or board positions.
Commenting on the reality of the situation in Africa, Paula Gilbert, Connecting Africa Editor, said: “Africa is making strides towards more gender parity in the tech and telecoms industry but there is still a lot that needs to be done to have true equality in the sector. When it comes to investment, the proportion of funding going to female-founded and female-led start-ups in Africa, remains incredibly low and representation at a C-suite and board level remains skewed towards male leaders.
“We need to focus from the grassroots up and empower Africa’s young women to follow paths into STEM careers by providing better funding, access to skills programmes and mentorship opportunities. That said, there is no silver bullet to cure this problem, it needs to be approached on all sides to break down the biases that women face on a daily basis and break the cycle for the next generation.”
Solutions
Speaking to Gilbert’s point, women would like to see better visibility and promotion of STEM career opportunities for women to help more women break into and thrive in the tech industry. This would help achieve more gender equity with their male counterparts in the sector, as well as more equal pay between genders and better flexible work opportunities.
Women also believe that there need to be more mentorship programmes for women, as well as opportunities to participate in panel discussions and debates and the development of female role models, which will assist in encouraging more women to enter STEM related businesses.
James Williams, Director, Events, Connecting Africa, Informa Tech, agrees women should be given more representation saying: “International Women’s Day is an incredibly important date in our calendar at Africa Tech Festival. In recent years, many African nations have led the way in female representation and empowerment, from government through to enterprise sectors but there’s no doubt there is some way to go to achieve gender parity across tech and telecoms. That said, given the successes we witness at Africa Tech Festival each year, I truly believe it’s an area Africa can lead the world in, and we are pleased to play our small part in making that happen!”
Given that women bore the brunt of the parenting role and household care, women also believe that more support at work for parents and having flexible working hours and arrangements would help level the playing fields.
This year’s International Women’s Day theme is ‘Innovation and technology for gender equality’ and according to the survey 5G, 4G and Mobile Technology is perceived as the most important innovation over the last 10 years. This has had the biggest impact on gender equality (28% of all respondents), with Edtech being the number one innovation that African women say has helped them.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Tech Festival.
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Business
Nedbank and Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) Partner to Launch Women Enterprise Growth and Export Programme in South Africa
It will support 75 women-owned SMMEs over three years, with 25 businesses selected for each annual cohort
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, August 13, 2026/APO Group/ –The Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) (www.AWIEForum.org) has partnered with Nedbank to launch a new programme – Women Enterprise Growth and Export. This new initiative builds on Nedbank and AWIEF’s long-term relationship and partnership since 2018, implementing the AWIEF Growth Accelerator and investment readiness programme in South Africa.
The Nedbank – AWIEF Women Enterprise Growth and Export is a 12-month business and enterprise supplier development programme for established South African Exempted Micro Enterprises (EME) or Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSE) that are at least 51% owned by black women.
The programme is intended for product-based businesses and is designed to help participants strengthen their operations, improve their finance, market and export readiness, and access larger domestic, regional, African, and international markets.
It forms part of a three-year partnership between Nedbank and AWIEF that will support 75 women-owned SMMEs, with 25 businesses selected for each annual cohort.
The programme targets growth-stage businesses that are already operating, generating revenue, and looking to scale and expand. Participating businesses should have the potential to strengthen their systems, increase production, fulfilment or distribution capacity, supply larger buyers, enter new markets, and progress towards regional or international expansion.
It will support 75 women-owned SMMEs over three years, with 25 businesses selected for each annual cohort.
The official and in-person launch of the programme will take place at the AWIEF2026 Conference and Exhibition on 10 – 11 November 2026 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape Town.
Call for Applications for 2026 Cohort of 25 Businesses
Applications are invited from qualifying businesses for the 2026 Cohort of 25 participants.
Eligibility & Who Can Apply
To qualify for the Nedbank – AWIEF Women Enterprise Growth and Export Programme, businesses must meet the following requirements:
- Be legally registered and operating in South Africa
- Be at least 51% owned by black women, as defined under the B-BBEE Act
- Qualify as an Exempted Micro Enterprise (EME) or Qualifying Small Enterprise (QSE) under the B-BBEE code applicable to their main business activities
- Be post-revenue, currently trading, and serving paying customers
- Looking to expand their market access nationally, regionally, intra-Africa, and internationally
- Be product-based and produce, manufacture, process, assemble, package, formulate, or distribute physical products
- Operate in one of the priority sectors
- Founder commits to a 12-month programme
Priority Sectors
The programme is open to businesses in the following sectors:
- Agriculture and Agro-processing
- Manufacturing
- Building and Construction
- Green Economy and Renewable Energy
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Cleaning and Hygiene
- Textile, Apparel and Accessories
- Beauty, Wellness, and Personal Care
- Hospitality and Tourism
- Design and Craft
- Circular Economy
Programme Timeline
7 September 2026
Applications Close
September – October 2026
Application screening and selection of 25 participating businesses
10 – 11 November 2026
Official Programme Launch and in-person 2-day bootcamp at AWIEF2026 Conference and Exhibition, CTICC, Cape Town
November 2026 – October 2027
Programme Implementation
Programme Benefits
Selected businesses will receive 12 months of tailored, practical support to strengthen their operations and products, prepare for larger markets and pursue sustainable growth.
- Business growth support
- Individual diagnostic and development plan
- Coaching and technical mentoring
- Product, supplier and retail readiness
- Market access support
- Finance and investment readiness
- Export readiness support
- Regional trade and partnership opportunities – support to explore AfCFTA-related opportunities, including B2B contracts, joint ventures, and co-production arrangements
- Networking and buyer linkages – opportunities to connect with mentors, buyers, institutions, finance providers, and other women entrepreneurs.
- AWIEF2026 Conference participation – free access to the AWIEF2026 Conference in Cape Town, including selected programme-related travel and accommodation support.
- Ongoing progress tracking – regular reviews to monitor implementation, business growth, job creation, market access, and progress against the Individual Development Plan.
Application Submission
Applications are submitted online until 7 September 2026, 11:59 SAST, only through this official link: https://apo-opa.co/4woMRTe
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF).
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