On Thursday, 23 April 2026, the world marks International Girls in ICT Day, a global call to action to ensure girls and young women can study, work and lead in technology. This year’s theme, “AI for Development: Girls Shaping the Digital Future,” is timely because Africa’s economic future will increasingly be determined by whether its young people, especially young women, can convert digital access into job‑relevant skills, and skills into income and enterprise.

Why this matters now: Africa’s digital economy is growing, but the skills gap is the constraint

Across Sub‑Saharan Africa, the digital economy is expanding but the binding constraint is not ambition; it is readiness. Research anchored in IFC analysis suggests over 230 million jobs in Sub‑Saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030, creating nearly 650 million training opportunities and an estimated $130 billion digital skilling market through 2030.

At the same time, Africa’s ability to fully capture this opportunity is hindered by a persistent access‑to‑use gap: GSMA reports a 60% mobile internet usage gap in Sub‑Saharan Africa, people who live within coverage but are not using mobile internet, driven by barriers such as device affordability and digital skills deficits.

For girls and young women, the urgency is even sharper. UNICEF has warned that in low‑income countries around 90% of adolescent girls and young women do not use the internet, underscoring the risk of a widening gender gap in opportunity as economies digitise.

In other words, the question is no longer whether Africa will digitalise, but whether Africa, especially its young women, will participate as builders and earners, not only users.

MTN’s approach: Digital Skills for Digital Jobs

At MTN, Girls in ICT Day is not only about awareness, it is about outcomes. Through the MTN Skills Academy and related digital training initiatives, MTN is building a learning‑to‑earning pathway that connects digital training to employability and entrepreneurship, equipping young people with practical skills aligned to a fast‑changing digital economy, including emerging fields such as AI, automation and digital innovation.

This is the essence of a Digital Skills for Digital Jobs approach: not simply offering content, but creating structured pathways that build capability, confidence and progression, from foundational literacy, to specialisations, to work readiness, to jobs and enterprise.

This year, we spotlight three young women whose journeys show what becomes possible when skills are linked to real opportunity.

Britney Alicia Prema Berinyu Moukoko (Cameroon): From skills to systems‑level leadership

Britney is a visionary young leader and social entrepreneur from Cameroon, currently pursuing a degree in Computer Engineering at the American University of Beirut as a Mastercard Foundation Scholar. As a member of Skolar, an initiative of the MTN Foundation Cameroon focused on digital inclusion, she distinguished herself as the youngest participant and second‑prize winner of the inaugural MTN Skills Academy in Cameroon.

The Academy equipped Britney with advanced technical and professional competencies that continue to shape her academic and humanitarian journey, strengthening her STEM foundation while building strategic problem‑solving, digital project management, and collaborative leadership tools. Today, she channels these capabilities into real impact.

She is the Founder of the Bright Future Builders Initiative, which has reached more than 10,000 young Cameroonians through education programmes, tech bootcamps and economic empowerment initiatives. She also serves as a teenage girl advisor for the FRIDA Fund and previously represented Sub‑Saharan Africa as a TechGirls spokesperson at the U.S. Department of State.

Britney’s story illustrates a powerful point about Africa’s digital future: when young women gain job‑relevant digital skills, they do not only access opportunity, they create it, scale it, and advocate for others to enter the digital economy with them.

Kgothatso Sebopelo (South Africa): From qualification to workplace entry

Kgothatso Sebopelo, a 26‑year‑old from the Setete section of North‑West Province, South Africa, is a standout alumna of the 2025 Digital Skills for Digital Jobs Programme. Designed to equip youth from previously disadvantaged communities with critical ICT capabilities, the programme offers a MICT SETA‑accredited qualification in Network and Systems Administration (NQF Level 5).

Kgothatso distinguished herself through exceptional discipline. Beyond completing the core qualification, she went further by completing 46 additional courses through the MTN Skills Academy, earning additional certification from the Academy. Following graduation, she secured an internship as an IT Specialist at Taletso TVET College.

Kgothatso’s journey demonstrates why “Digital Skills for Digital Jobs” must be the standard: training only matters when it shifts real labour market outcomes, moving young people from learning into credible work pathways, particularly in communities where opportunity has historically been uneven.

Rahima Nansamba (Uganda): From digital skills to entrepreneurship and community impact

At 23, Rahima is building a platform that merges digital empowerment with community wellness. Based in Kampala, Uganda, she is the Founder of She Wellness & Digital Impact Hub, an initiative focused on digital skills development, wellness advocacy and youth empowerment.

Rahima completed the MTN Skills Programme through Smart Girls Uganda in 2024, gaining exposure to digital skills and entrepreneurship fundamentals. The programme strengthened her confidence to navigate online platforms, build a brand and conceptualise sustainable digital ventures. Since then, she has expanded her capabilities through further training in innovation, creativity and transformation, time management, strategic planning, and public speaking. Operating as a solo Founder while collaborating with volunteers and creatives, Rahima is growing her hub as a space where young women can access digital knowledge, build confidence and explore income‑generating opportunities.

Rahima’s story highlights another dimension of the digital economy: the pathway is not only employment, it is also enterprise. Digital skills can unlock entrepreneurship, enabling young people to create ventures that serve communities and participate in the economy as job creators, not only job seekers.

Building a digitally inclusive future: from access to opportunity

International Girls in ICT Day is a reminder that talent is universal, but opportunity is not. Africa’s digital future depends on whether connectivity is matched by capability, especially for girls and young women. With the continent facing a widening digital skills gap and a persistent usage gap linked to affordability and skills, building structured, job‑relevant pathways is no longer optional, it is a strategic investment in competitiveness and inclusive growth.

The stories of Britney, Kgothatso and Rahima show what becomes possible when young women are equipped not only with connectivity, but with the confidence and competence to participate in the digital economy as learners, earners and entrepreneurs.

As Africa’s transformation accelerates in the era of AI, empowering girls in ICT is not only a matter of equity, it is a direct lever for innovation, resilience and economic participation at scale.

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