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On a balmy evening in Dakar, seven young women were gathered in the library of a local university, not far from the city’s Monument of African Renaissance statue. Lit by the white glow of a projector screen, they tapped eagerly at laptops as the speakers covered everything from how to market your business on Instagram, to designing a website and using WhatsApp to sell your products.

Taking furious notes near the front was Rosa Evora, who runs a small business baking and selling cakes. At just 21, the business world is new to her, but like millennials everywhere, she has a good grasp of the digital world -- in fact, it was social media that launched her career.

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Evora learned to bake by watching her mum, who worked as a cook at embassies in Dakar: “I was always at her side,” she recalls fondly. But it was only when she made a cake for her mum on mother’s day two years ago that things took off. “People loved the cake so much that they started sharing photos on social media,” she says. “I started getting requests from people to make cakes. Little by little, I started having regular clients. Now I make 10 cakes a week.”

Wanting to grow her business, but unsure of how to take the next step, Evora applied to ELLES’Coaching, a weekly training program for women entrepreneurs. And though it was only her second week, Evora says the program has already inspired her: “When I see other women who started out with nothing and now run their own companies, I think, well, I could do that too.”

But despite her newfound confidence, Evora’s mentors remain a rarity in Senegal, where less than a quarter of businesses are owned by women: According to the World Bank, there’s only been a 10% increase in women’s labor force participation since 1990.

A group of young women learn about computer hardware at the Jigguène Tech Hub.Credit: Oscar Lopez

“Entrepreneurship in Senegal has been female forever,” says Awa Dia, a Senegalese businesswoman and member of the Women’s Investment Club, which provides private equity for businesses led or created by women. “The problem is knowing how to make it grow.”

For young entrepreneurs like Evora, Senegal’s technology revolution could provide the answer. In the last few years, internet access has grown exponentially, jumping from just 5% of the population in 2005 to over 25%in 2017.

Internet-based businesses now contribute up to 3.3% of Senegal’s GDP, the highest of any country in Africa, according to a 2013 McKinsey study. This digital transformation could boost the fortunes of female entrepreneurs across the country -- if they can access it. Because despite being billed as “Africa’s Silicon Valley,” only 35%of IT jobs in Senegal are held by women.

"African women have a long history of entrepreneurship"

“The sector is in full boom,” says Dia. “But women aren’t privileged with access to technology -- that remains a masculine domain.”

Mariam Tendou Kamara, who founded the ELLES’Coaching program, is hoping to change just that. “We want to shift the paradigm for any woman entrepreneur who dares to go beyond what she has,” says Kamara. “We want to use the digital world to take her further."

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A communications expert who spent years working for NGOs across West Africa, Kamara became increasingly aware of the lack of visibility for women in business. “African women have a long history of entrepreneurship,” she says. “Why don’t we see them? In terms of stories, it’s a void.”

Elisabeth Gerbier coaches young entrepreneurs in the ELLES'Coaching program.Credit: oscar lopez

To start addressing the issue, Kamara launched #MadameDigitalein 2016, a year-long program highlighting women entrepreneurs. Focusing on everyone from mechanics to filmmakers, the program used both social and traditional media to highlight what Kamara calls “amazing women who are under the radar.” Last year, Kamara took the initiative a step further by launching ELLES’Coaching to give more women the opportunity to develop businesses online.

On the night I attended, the session was being led by Elisabeth Gerbier and Micheline Lawson, two young entrepreneurs who run a digital communication agency, Pulse Afrique. With clients in Senegal, Mali, Gambia, and Ivory Coast, Gerbier and Lawson provide small businesses with everything from web design to social media strategy. On the side, the pair also run a small online business selling leather goods made by women across the region.

“We were the first generation to communicate digitally,” says Gerbier. “But we didn’t learn how to do this at school - everything we’ve learned, we learnt on the internet. For free.”

That’s part of the reason they joined ELLES’Coaching as volunteer mentors, says Lawson, giving up their time to share their knowledge with other young entrepreneurs like Evora is a way to pay it forward. “If other people hadn’t shared their knowledge freely,” she says, “then maybe I wouldn’t be doing the work that I’m doing.”

Aminata Balde, 23, says she "grew up with Jigguène Tech."Credit: oscar lopez

And ELLES’Coaching is only the latest in a slew of initiatives encouraging young women to participate in Senegal’s technology transformation. During the#UpForSchoolprogram, run by children’s charity Their World, girls learn how to build computers and make websites with HTML. UNESCO’s YouthMobileinitiative provides young girls with the skills to develop and sell mobile apps, while the country’s largest company, Sonatel Orange, has launched programs such as the Prize for Female Digital Entrepreneurshipand Super Codersthat promote women in the tech field. From coding classes at the prestigious Mariama Bâ school for girls to startup weekendsfor women, Senegal’s technology boom is putting women front and centre.

But for many in the field, there’s still a long way to go. “We don’t find a lot of women in the tech sector, especially making decisions,” says Binta Coudy Dé, a 28-year-old computer engineer who runs Jigguène Tech, Senegal’s only tech hub run by women for women. “But if we can have more role models, then maybe we can bring a change.” Named for Jjiguène, the local Wolof word for woman, Dé launched Jigguène Tech in 2012 to do exactly that: Last year alone, she trained over 300 women in everything from coding to public speaking to launching a startup. “When you come, you will become confident,” says Dé. “Then you will share what you know.”

A session on e-marketing at Jigguène Tech.Credit: oscar lopez

On a recent Saturday morning, the Jigguène Tech hub was buzzing with activity: In one classroom, a dozen young women were learning about online marketing; next door, a dozen more were learning the basics of computer hardware.

Guiding me through the space was Aminata Balde, 23, one of Jigguène Tech’s volunteer coaches. She met Dé four years ago while studying telecommunications at university, and has since become integral to the program. “I really grew up with Jigguène Tech,” she says. “I couldn’t imagine that one day I’d be coaching people on e-marketing, or how to use a computer.”

"When men see our CVs, they think we don’t know what we’re doing"

For Balde, teaching other young women to code or design a website goes beyond just entrepreneurship: In a country where gender equality is still a long way off, the digital world can offer a path forward. “Technology is growing at an exponential rate,” she says. “But girls think that it is only for men. We want to break that image.”

Likewise Lawson and Gerbier, the entrepreneurs at ELLES’Coaching, have often been met with resistance from male colleagues, but have used their mastery of technology to come out on top. “When men see our CVs, they think we don’t know what we’re doing,” says Gerbier. “So they’re usually quite surprised when we do the work in half the time it takes them.”

But for Evora, the baker, beyond being a tool to take on the guys, technology has been a way to find courage within herself. “I used to prefer to stay in the shadows,” she says. “This has given me more confidence to launch myself into the light.”

Reporting for this story was supported by the International Reporting Project.

This article was updated to more accurately reflect Dia's title and the meeting location.

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