Talk about a massive disconnect between tech hype and actual reality. A big meeting just happened, basically stating the obvious about Africa's future being tied to tech, but pointing out that everyone is failing at the basics. The event was called The Future of STEM in Africa, thrown together by the U.S. Mission Nigeria and the Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Association, with help from an organization called the WAAW Foundation. Key people involved included a U.S. Mission rep named Diran Adegoke and WAAW's Executive Director, Oluwatimilehin Onafeso. They pulled in a bunch of fellows from the 2025 Mandela Washington Fellowship and WAAW's own college fellows from schools like Olabisi Onabanjo University and the University of Ibadan.
The whole point of the gathering was a brutal admission that current approaches are not working. People there agreed that without serious leadership training, pushing for more women in science, and constant political pressure, the continent will just get left behind. They pointed out huge problems like a lack of skilled workers, women being pushed out of tech fields, and young people not being set up to solve local problems with local answers. The U.S. Mission guy, Adegoke, stressed that everyone needs to work together for any of this to matter long-term. Meanwhile, the WAAW director, Onafeso, basically said leaving women out of tech is a stupid economic move that holds everyone back.
During the talks, fellows shared stories about dealing with sexism and outdated social rules while trying to work in tech. Everyone concluded that leaders need to actually listen to different voices if they want to build anything that lasts. They also argued that trying to push tech in poor or traditional areas will backfire if the solutions do not make sense for those communities. The event had some hands-on tech demos too, like playing with AI, to link theory to practice. The final takeaway was that mentorship and advocacy cannot be afterthoughts; they have to be the main focus. The organizers claim this was not a one-off talk, and they plan to keep pushing for more young Africans, especially women, to get into tech policy and leadership roles.
The whole point of the gathering was a brutal admission that current approaches are not working. People there agreed that without serious leadership training, pushing for more women in science, and constant political pressure, the continent will just get left behind. They pointed out huge problems like a lack of skilled workers, women being pushed out of tech fields, and young people not being set up to solve local problems with local answers. The U.S. Mission guy, Adegoke, stressed that everyone needs to work together for any of this to matter long-term. Meanwhile, the WAAW director, Onafeso, basically said leaving women out of tech is a stupid economic move that holds everyone back.
During the talks, fellows shared stories about dealing with sexism and outdated social rules while trying to work in tech. Everyone concluded that leaders need to actually listen to different voices if they want to build anything that lasts. They also argued that trying to push tech in poor or traditional areas will backfire if the solutions do not make sense for those communities. The event had some hands-on tech demos too, like playing with AI, to link theory to practice. The final takeaway was that mentorship and advocacy cannot be afterthoughts; they have to be the main focus. The organizers claim this was not a one-off talk, and they plan to keep pushing for more young Africans, especially women, to get into tech policy and leadership roles.
