Vivo Energy Ghana, the exclusive marketer and distributor of Shell branded fuels and lubricants has urged women to venture into the technology space as the world commemorates International Women's Day (IWD).

The day was marked under the universal theme DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality.

International Women's Day is a day set aside to celebrate and recognize the achievements of women without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic, or political. Since its inception, International Women's Day has assumed a global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike.

As a company committed to diversity and inclusiveness, Vivo Energy Ghana celebrated the day with employees and some astute women in the technology space to discuss and share insights into the challenges and opportunities in the sector.

Taking her turn on a panel discussion, the Chief Executive Officer of EDEL Technology and Consulting, Ethel Cofie urged more women to join the technology space to increase the numbers which ultimately helps to bridge the gender gap in the sector.

She also emphasized the need for more visibility saying, women and students in technology should work hard, and trumpet their achievements to create visibility in the space. “Get up, work hard, and make noise about every effort you have put into your work so that people will get to see and appreciate what you have done. Do not wait for your work to be recognised without making noise about it. Learn to be visible and you will receive the recognition due you” she charged women.

Sharing her thought on IWD celebrations, the Co-Founder of Superfluid Labs Winifred Kotin, noted that “International Women's Day is a day we celebrate the contributions and achievements of women in the world of work and productivity.”

 “As someone who has been a lone ranger in the field of technology for a long time, it is very exciting when I get the opportunity to celebrate International Women's Day because it is a day to let others know that of all the industries and professions that exist, women also want to be part of technology”, she said. Winifred Kotin took the opportunity to recount some of the hurdles that she had to deal with climbing up the ladder in the technology space.

Addressing the gathering, the Managing Director of Vivo Energy Ghana, Kader Maiga described the day as worthy of due recognition and further opined that” this day has been made solely for women and it is only proper that men support women in the pursuit of equality. We must encourage our women to take up roles regardless of the sector in which these roles may be”.

He ended by calling on young girls of school-going age to choose Information Communication and Technology (ICT) programmes as one of the numerous ways by which the theme for this year can be realized.

In 2021, Vivo Energy Ghana sponsored some Senior High School students in Accra and Kumasi to undergo an Information Communication Technology (ICT) training under a partnership programme with the African Business Centre for Developing Education (ABCDE) and Soronko Academy, a leading technology and digital skills development center in Ghana.