Women participation in engineering would help enhance Africa’s economic growth and have a far-reaching consequences in crafting a more sustainable and equitable future for the African continent.
This assertion was made by the deputy governor of Ogun state, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, during her keynote address at the UNESCO night Africa Engineering week and 7th Africa Engineering conference held at the CSIR International convention centre in Pretoria, South Africa.
She added that studies have consistently shown that gender diversity in the workforce leads to greater productivity, innovation, and profitability.
She explained that the Engineering Council of South Africa research revealed that women made up only 12 percent of registered professional engineers, indicating a significant gender gap, despite the fact that women make up over 50 percent of the population and form the majority of the workforce in most countries.
She noted that just roughly 4,500 of the 60,000 engineers registered with the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) are female, or 7.5 percent of the total.
Engr. Salako-Oyedele, on the other hand, asked Engineers not to overlook the importance of advocacy and raising awareness as they all worked to achieve gender equality in engineering, pointing out that highlighting achievements would also serve as an inspiration and motivation.
Dr. kgosientsho Ramokgopa, the minister of electricity for South Africa, praised working women engineers throughout the continent of Africa in his speech and asserted that increasing the inclusion of women in the engineering field would have a significant impact on how nations in Africa and the rest of the world run their economies.
He appealed to the government, industry participants, and institutions of higher learning to implement policies that would inspire female graduates to pursue engineering careers and encourage young girls to select engineering as a career.
