A technology initiative, Girls Tech Boot Camp, is training secondary school girls across Nigeria in practical digital skills as part of efforts to increase female participation in the technology sector.
The Project Team Lead for the South-South Zone, Dr Martha Musa, said the five-day programme targets at least 300 girls across the country’s six geopolitical zones. Participants are receiving training in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and Python programming, with 50 students taking part in the South-South edition in Port Harcourt.
Musa, who is Head of Computer Science at the University of Port Harcourt, said the initiative was designed to address the gender gap in STEM and challenge perceptions that technology is mainly a male field. She encouraged girls to pursue careers in technology and develop the confidence to lead in the sector.
The programme, sponsored by the NeurIPS Foundation and organised by the Girls Techies Humanitarian Initiative, also aims to establish technology clubs where participants can continue learning after the boot camp. Organisers said early exposure to technology could help create a pipeline of female professionals for Nigeria’s digital economy.
Some participants expressed enthusiasm about the training, with 14-year-old Igwe Vanessa aspiring to become a software engineer, while 13-year-old Divine Omosigo-Frank said she hoped to gain practical knowledge of AI and other emerging technologies.
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