Africa’s Most Influential Women in Science and Tech

In the spirit of celebrating African excellence, ITNewsAfrica has decided to profile 10 African women who have been pivotal in the development of Technology on the continent. The technology sector in Africa is dominated by men, but the women on this list have shown that given the opportunity they can stand toe-to-toe, and in some cases outperform their male counterparts.

Here’s our list in no particular order...

1. Ory Okolloh. Ory Okolloh started out as an impassioned blogger who wanted to democratize information and increase transparency through her site, Mzalendo (Swahili for patriot). When disputed presidential election results led to violent unrest in her native Kenya, Okolloh helped create Ushahidi (Swahili for “Witness”), a tool that collected and mapped eyewitness reports of violence using text messages and Google Maps. A few years on this activist has emerged as one of the most powerful tech figures in Africa, currently serving as Google’s policy manager for the continent. It is a tremendous accomplishment for a woman who started out just blowing off steam...