Dr. Susan Isiko Strba is the Counsel and Senior Fellow at the Geneva Center of Knowledge Governance and co-founder/Senior Research and Policy Advisor at the International Lawyers and Economists for Development (ilaed.org). She discusses women in technology in Africa. Dr. Strba says Africa's tech landscape is often described as "bleak" in global comparisons, yet technology exists across a spectrum and must include women who run 80–85% of the informal sector that sustains much of the continent's GDP. She links tech adoption to practical needs such as phones and social media marketing for farmers and small producers, including training on faster, smarter posting and scheduling, and extending to AI tools. She highlights African women building AI models for disadvantaged communities (e.g., DAIR), emphasizing culturally and linguistically relevant systems, intellectual property, and careful data access, and notes the importance of collaborations among researchers, users, funders, and countries, including under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Timestamps:
00:00 Welcome to the Show
00:37 Meet Dr Susan Strba
02:32 Tech in Africa Today
03:38 Women Powering Informal Economy
06:48 Defining Technology Spectrum
08:46 Agri Tech and Market Access
11:34 Social Media Skills Training
13:06 AI Tools and Cultural Norms
16:03 Building African AI Models
20:16 Collaboration and Funding
24:44 How to Connect and Closing
Get In Touch:
If you're interested in connecting with Dr Susan Strba, you can reach her via her website (http://www.ILaED.org ), via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ilaed.org), via Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ilaedorg/), via Twitter (https://x.com/ilaedorg) or via her LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/ilaed-org/ ).
For those interested in sharing their own stories on "Chatting with the Experts," reach out to Paula Okonneh through her website at chattingwiththeexperts.com or connect via LinkedIn.
