Celestine Tetteh, a Fellow of the Women Techsters Class of 2023, has encouraged young girls in Ghana and all over the African continent to pursue careers in technology as a way to create better lives for themselves and find solutions to some of Africa’s biggest issues by creating technology solutions.
Tetteh is one of 18 Ghanaian girls who were admitted into the Class of 2023 of the Women Techsters Fellowship, a tech-enabling program by Technology for Social Change and Development Initiative (Tech4Dev) where she’s been studying to become a data analyst.
Before enrolling in the 12-month long program, she had worked as a receptionist in a construction company in Accra, and despite the fact that she is yet to fully complete the program, she has landed an entry-level data analyst position at the organization where she worked as a receptionist.
Tetteh who holds a degree in Actuarial Science has always been interested in tech but when she ventured into the path in 2018, it was all too tough for her, however, being amongst women from other African countries through the Women Techsters Initiative helped her overcome her fears.
“Personally, the training has prepared me for the world through both hard skills and soft skills. I have been given some knowledge in areas of Data Science that people are paying thousands for. I have learnt from diverse minds which I believe will make me thrive in whichever path I would want to take.
“Before I joined the Women Techsters Fellowship, I had worked as a receptionist, in January 2023, my former boss came across a project I had worked on and weeks later, I was employed as a data analyst in the same organization where I worked as a receptionist.”
With what she has been able to achieve within a short period, she has taken out time to encourage young girls and women to take the leap into tech, “Get doing, stop fearing, tech is not limited to age but by mindset. Meaning your mindset is the only thing that can kill your dreams in the tech space.”
Fortunately, there are many organizations and initiatives working to encourage more girls to pursue tech careers. These include coding workshops, mentorship programs, and scholarships specifically for women in tech.
In the future, Tetteh says she looks forward to working on real-life projects that can solve problems in her country.
