Women Innovators Incubator Participants discuss Women in STEM at Galien Forum Africa

5 November 2021.
By the Award program team

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) and Speak Up Africa shall host a panel discussion at the 2021 edition of the Galien Forum Africa to address gender equity in Africa’s healthcare innovation space.

Scientific Innovations and Gender Equality
A discussion hosted by the IFPMA & Speak Up Africa
Thursday 9 December 2021 from 9:00 AM (GMT)

Under the theme “Africa mobilizes for global health security”, the discussion will address the status of African women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and their critical role in innovating solutions to Africa’s healthcare needs.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, young people across Africa are driving forward innovation in life-saving technologies to ensure community access to care and supporting healthcare professionals delivering vital care. However, as the continent’s innovation landscape continues to thrive and drive the progress of Africa’s transformation agenda, women innovators remain underrepresented. Only 30% of women are engaged in STEM fields within Sub-Saharan Africa. This gender imbalance is attributed to limited access to funding and skills gaps that are key to the formation, scale-up, and sustainability of business enterprises. Additionally, women innovators often have less access than men to large diverse networks that can support the growth and competitiveness of their innovations.

In the face of these challenges, coupled with the Africa Young Innovators for Health Award experience where only 21 per cent of the over 300 submissions were from women, IFPMA and Speak Up Africa launched the Women Innovators Incubator program. The program focuses on addressing the gender imbalance that exists in Africa’s health innovation landscape. The initiative aims at building the business capacity of women entrepreneurs vital to advancing innovations that seek to tackle some of Africa’s most pressing healthcare challenges.

At this year’s Galien Forum Africa, we are joined by outstanding women who’ll share their inspiration to venture into STEM fields, how they were empowered, and the challenges they faced. Furthermore, we will delve into the role women can play and do play in innovation which may sometimes not be recognized, and how initiatives such as the Women Innovators Incubator can empower and strengthen future women innovators and leaders.

The panel discussion will feature the following speakers:

  • Awa Marie Coll-Seck, President of the Scientific Committee of the Galien Forum and Minister of State of Senegal
  • Greg Perry, Assistant General Director of IFPMA
  • Yacine Djibo, Founder and Executive Director of Speak Up Africa
  • Mohamadou Diallo, Founder and Editor in chief of CIO Mag
  • Nuriat Nambogo, CEO of MobiCare and participant of the Women Innovators Incubator program
  • Marie Chantal Umunyana, CEO of Umubyeyi and participant of the Women Innovators Incubator program
  • Angella Kyomugisha, Co-Founder and COO of Kaaro Health and participant of the Women Innovators Incubator program

The Galien Forum Africa is an initiative of the Galien Foundation, which recognizes and awards excellence in medical and pharmaceutical innovation that has the power to bring transformative changes on the priorities of our continent for Africans and by Africans.

Register to join the conversation: https://relaiswebcasting.zoom.us/webinar/register/2016365420351/WN_mwtm1YrXS3eyRytxUjPY7g