Pan-African cryptocurrency exchange and financial technology firm, Yellow Card, through a $3,000 grant, has teamed up with Web3Ladies mentorship program to empower over 500 Nigerian women with relevant tech and blockchain skills.
This move by Yellow Card is part of its YC Social Good, the company’s flagship Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, aimed at promoting financial freedom and enabling access to tech resources for everyone across the continent.
The Web3Ladies mentorship program is a three-month intensive boot camp designed to train skilled designers, engineers, and managers for the blockchain industry while providing them with the necessary tools and tech resources needed for post-training success.
For Yellow Card, the decision to partner with Web3Ladies, a women-centric organization, was driven by the need to provide greater access to training and tech resources for the burgeoning young population of the continent, particularly females, who face significant barriers. An estimated 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030, and UNESCO estimates that only 30% of women receive STEM training, with even fewer girls possessing essential digital skills for the modern workforce in the region.
Yellow Card, through its YC Social Good Initiative, intends to close this gap, equipping and preparing young African talents with the necessary skills required to shape the future of the continent.
“We are committed to helping people across the African continent improve their lives through various partnerships and programs that focus on financial inclusion, youth empowerment, education, and innovation,” said Jason Marshall, Chief Operating Officer of Yellow Card.
Jason further explained that women and girls face significant barriers to technology and digital literacy education, making it an easy decision to grant Web3Ladies the $3,000 for the mentorship program.
“This is just one of our several efforts under the YC Social Good, our CSR initiatives, which promote inclusion and financial freedom across the continent,” Jason added.
Despite Nigeria’s strong entrepreneurial spirit, only 15% of tech startup co-founders in Nigeria are women. A study published by LongHash in 2018 shows that among 100 blockchain startups surveyed, female employees accounted for only 14.5% of the workforce.
So, while the digital ecosystem is dynamic and exciting, gender inclusivity remains a growth inhibitor. Yellow Card, through this partnership, has gone beyond mere words and reiterations of the problem to contribute to the empowerment of more women, an investment they believe will yield overall positive results for the African economy in the near future.
Nkechi Enebeli, Associate Program Manager for Web3Ladies, while commenting on Yellow Card’s $3,000 grant to power their mentorship program, said, “Yellow Card’s commitment to corporate social responsibility is nothing short of remarkable. Their partnership reaffirms the belief that empowering women in tech is not just a matter of equality but an investment in the future”.
She further explained that “The partnership is more than just financial support; it’s a testament to the power of collaboration. We are immensely grateful to Yellow Card for recognizing our mission and offering their hand in our journey towards a more equitable tech ecosystem”.
The Web3Ladies mentorship program runs in four different phases for a duration of three months. During the program, mentees attend live classes and weekly workshops under the guidance of on-site mentors. The workshops are in-depth sessions on specific blockchain topics delivered by industry experts and experienced professionals.
There are over 500 registered mentees and an intake of over 200 accepted applicants in the current cohort. We are looking to provide work tools such as laptops, inverters, and MiFis to successfully graduated mentees after the cohort program.
Since its launch in Nigeria in 2019, Yellow Card has contributed thousands of dollars to sponsor various projects and initiatives. This support extends beyond Nigeria and expands across the continent. Yellow Card has supported initiatives such as Generation Empower (GenEm) in support of their mission to educate and empower the youth in Tanzania, a $5,000 grant to the Purple Skills Klinic Foundation, which seeks to empower young people in Uganda, among other projects led by the company.
As the largest cryptocurrency exchange on the African continent, Yellow Card operates in over 17 countries. It is a financial services company that offers a crypto exchange, easy cross-border payments powered by crypto, and an API suite for companies to on-and-off-ramp anyone on the continent and abroad.
In 2022, the company announced its Series B fundraise of $40 million, bringing total funds raised to over $50 million — the most capital raised by any African cryptocurrency company.
