This archive report was first published on 31 August 2019.
On August 31, 2019, Huawei Kenya announced its commitment to increasing women's participation in top leadership positions through a range of initiatives. The company aims to empower women to access senior leadership positions on merit.
According to Huawei Technologies Kenya CEO Stone He, the company has taken up the challenge to increase women's participation in decision-making and management through hiring and training of more female IT professionals.
"To boost women in technology, we are required to give them more opportunities to do so. However, we are not doing so well. That is why we have come up with the Women in Technology Huawei (WITH) programme," said He.
The programme's lead, Maureen Mwaniki, said the initiative seeks to significantly increase the number of women in IT at the firm as well as across the industry. Currently, the share of women in tech at Huawei Kenya stands at 25 per cent, but the company seeks to take it to 40 per cent in the next few years.
Ms Mwaniki also stated that the number of women in other departments within the firm will also be increased. "According to our strategy, women in procurement for instance will be increased from 6.9 per cent to 7.3 per cent in the next one year," she said.
The Quality Assurance Manager emphasized that the programme's long-term plan is to see men and women in technology share positions and benefits equally.
