Beatrice Were

A Ugandan entrepreneur and founder of the first all-female tech company in Africa, promoting gender equality in STEM fields.

Beatrice Were is a Ugandan entrepreneur and innovator who made a significant difference in the African tech ecosystem. Born in 1978 in Kampala, Uganda, Were grew up in a family that valued education, but faced systemic gender barriers in accessing technical training. Despite these challenges, she earned a degree in computer science from Makerere University and later pursued a master's in software engineering in the U.S. Upon returning to Uganda in 2001, she noticed the stark underrepresentation of women in tech roles and founded Women in Computing, an organization dedicated to training female coders and engineers.

In 2003, Were launched CodeMoja, Africa's first all-female technology company, which developed mobile banking solutions for underserved communities. The company's flagship product, M-Pesa Integration Suite, enabled rural Ugandans to access financial services through basic feature phones. By 2010, CodeMoja had trained over 500 women developers and secured partnerships with MTN Uganda and Equity Bank. Were's work inspired the Ugandan government to establish the ITAU initiative, allocating $2 million annually to support women in tech education.

Were pioneered the concept of 'Tech for Inclusion,' creating apps like AgriConnect that connected smallholder farmers with market prices and HealthLink for telemedicine consultations. Her 2015 TEDxKampala talk "Tech for Inclusion: Bridging the Gender Divide" has been viewed over 500,000 times. In 2018, she co-founded the African STEM Network, a coalition of 12 countries working to increase female representation in tech sectors from 12% to 30% by 2025.

Were's impact extends beyond Uganda: her training methodologies have been adopted by UN Women's TechGirls program in 14 African nations. A 2020 World Bank report credits her initiatives with reducing the gender gap in tech employment in East Africa by 18%. Her legacy includes over 3,000 trained women developers and $15 million in venture capital raised for female-led tech startups in Africa.