Q & A with Merab Dorgu, Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress

This year, International Women’s History Month (WHM) echoes the theme of March 8th’s observance, Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress. It’s an initiative that sheds light on existing efforts to promote gender equity across Africa’s fast-growing technology landscape.

For example, venture capitalists like Andreata Muforo are prioritizing investing in female-led businesses.

Meanwhile, entrepreneurs like Coding in Heels founder Angela Semwogerere provide technical training that helps women grow their skills in the disruptive technology landscape. Such efforts are helping to create a female workforce that can digitize business operations and the continents civil infrastructure, thus leading to progress.

One particular founder that caught our attention is Merab Dorgu.

She started Xpandreach, an information technology (IT) services and consulting business that helps small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increase their online presence. Dorgu also founded TrendyTechies which is currently restructuring.

However, the business functions as a community support system for those struggling to start a career in tech.

Lastly, Dorgu is the program manager for the Cybersafe Foundation’s DigiGirls 3.0. Cohort. Her role involves making sure that the women enrolled in the Cybersafe Foundation’s digital skills training program get the most out of the curriculum.

We’re so grateful we snagged a slot in Dorgu’s busy calendar. Our conversation centered around her contributions to the 2024 WHM Investing in Women: Accelerating Progress theme. We also learned more about her motivations for supporting other professionals in the tech space.

How did your experiences growing up shape your passion for youth development,MN particularly in empowering women and girls to discover their path in tech?

I’ve always been interested in devices and how they work.

I remember playing around with computers and phones as a child, but I never thought about it as a career until completing my Bachelor of Sciences program at the University of Calabar in Nigeria. At the time, I was dropshipping, linking clothing merchandise with interested buyers on third-party applications (apps) like Jiji.

I saw other small fashion business owners struggle to establish an online presence despite my making good money from drop shipping. I realized they didn’t have the digital skills, which initially drew me to learn how to use technology to scale a business.

Experiences that helped shape my desire to empower others are the extracurricular activities I was involved in during my uni days. They had a lot to do with community service and development. An example I can point to is providing free medical care materials to individuals living at Bakassi Internally Displaced People (IDP) Camp in Cross River State, Nigeria.

I’ve always been involved with helping people. Once I got into tech and found my footing, I realized I wanted to help other young people like me who were interested in starting a career in tech.

Is that how you got into your role as a program manager for the DigiGirls 3.0 cohort?

Yes, exactly.

Tell us more about DigiGirls and your responsibilities as a program manager.

DigiGirls is a training program that equips women and girls between 15 and 40 with the primary and intermediate skills necessary to thrive in today’s digital economy. It’s funded by the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office, and I ensure the program meets its objective.

That involves finding the women, designing their training program, and ensuring they go through it successfully. I also help to ensure that the alum community stays in contact with each other as they learn and grow in their tech careers. That could be talking through landing job opportunities, discussing owning a product or service, or having a community to bounce ideas off.

This year, we exceeded our goal of reaching 58,000 women by reaching over 60,000 in Nigeria, helping them develop basic and intermediate digital skills.

In the photo: Some members of last year’s DigiGirls cohort attend the DigiGirls State Hangout in the South of Nigeria.

How do you find and recruit the women?

We have an application process that includes three stages. Curious applicants first complete an interest indication form and a written essay. If their application is selected, candidates enroll in a basic digital literacy program, cybersecurity awareness course, soft skills and entrepreneurship training, and assessment.

Those who make it through proceed to the final stage: an intermediate digital skills training program, where we cover niches like Data Analysis, Digital Marketing, E-Commerce, Graphics Design, and user interface/user experience (UI/UX).

The DigiGirls training program is hosted virtually. However, we do have physical hubs in Lagos and Kaduna, Nigeria, for anyone who needs computer access.

What are some common limiting beliefs you’ve heard women looking to work in tech say, and how do you respond?

A popular limiting belief is thinking you need an undergraduate degree to go into tech. I explain that you require time, commitment, and passion for a particular field to start a career in tech. Other times, stay-at-home moms or wives feel like they lack the skills to start a career after being away from the workforce for so long.

I remind them that they have a lot of transferable skills like organization and communication. There are so many practices you engage in as a mother that can be transferred to your career as a woman in tech because you spend time negotiating and problem-solving.

I encourage them to research what interpersonal skills are required to succeed in their niche and practice applying them in their day-to-day.

In either instance, I stress the importance of allocating time, committing to using that time to learn about the industry, and ensuring you’re staying passionate about achieving your goal.

In your experience, what are some of the most pressing challenges women in Nigeria’s tech industry face, and how would you like to see those problems addressed by next year’s WHM?

Many women are interested in gaining the tech skills necessary to launch a career; they just don’t have access to devices that enable them to leverage free training provided by the many boot camps and institutions.

I think DigiGirls does a good job of ensuring that all the women in our program have direct access to computers.

This year, we partnered with 60 hubs across the country to train women and girls in rural communities without such access.

Nigeria has been described as one of the “Big Four” in countries across the continent receiving the bulk of start-up funding from global investors. Is there a deficit in the number of female founders who get their start-ups funded in Nigeria?

Yes.

One reason is that most women aren’t properly educated on how to launch a start-up successfully. I’m speaking about sourcing funds and pitching to investors.

We’ve had cases of women in the DigiGirls program owning existing businesses. Still, most of them need digital marketing know-how to grow their businesses to get investments, increase fundraising, and do everything related to that.

One way to close that gap is to provide women with a proper understanding of how to go from an idea to a launch. That was one of the reasons I started Xpandreach, a digital marketing and web design agency.

Initially, it was focused on fashion and beauty entrepreneurs, but we diversified because clients in different industries, like food, would reach out to us.

What’s the best and most challenging part of being a founder in Nigeria?

The best part is watching an idea come to life. It’s amazing to experience the beauty of taking bold action toward your dreams.

The challenging part is growth.

I think of my experience founding Xpandreach. Sometimes, it feels overwhelming because you’re trying to upskill while figuring out the right team. Coupled with my daytime job and greater career, it takes a lot of energy.

I still love it and the opportunities that it provides, though.

My last question relates to this year’s WHM theme, Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress. It’s all about ensuring we collectively work towards filling the $360 billion deficit in funding gender equity measures by 2030. Is there anything you haven’t mentioned that demonstrates how your role as a founder and mentor for women in the tech space contributes to this global ambition?

I am really drawn to sharing knowledge and opportunities, particularly for women. My contribution, especially for women across Africa, is sharing my access to these opportunities through the women I mentor and those in my network.

I also encourage them to pay it forward and share their insights. One way to close the gender equity gap is through closing the knowledge gap. When I see opportunities for women in business or women founders to learn more about how they could grow their offerings or source funding, I love to share them.

I also love to encourage collaboration among women. It’s one of the things I push my mentees to do a lot. Collaborating can help increase visibility and revenue generation for their business.

Even when launching a minimum viable product (MVP), collaboration is a key way to do that. Coming together with your different skills to work on projects, despite not having the funds, can go a long way.

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Dorgu hopes to keep growing and learning as she develops her career in the tech industry and advises other women to do the same

“We are in an evolving world, keep learning so you don’t fall behind!”

Are you an entrepreneur or professional looking to leverage our IT and project management courses to land a career in tech?

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