Akaliza Keza Gara

"I especially want to promote ICT among girls and women because many think that it is a man’s world—and it still is. But if you look at the history of computing you will find that women played an integral role as well."

"Seeing my name in the credits [of the cartoon series] was a big moment for me and I am so thankful I had that opportunity,"

"But there is still hope that newer developments in the field of IT can now [see] women [working] alongside men,"

"If women are part of and can make up a huge part of the market for ICT products, they can also enjoy the available opportunities alongside men in the ICT industry from both developer and end-user perspective,"

"My commitment is to encourage more girls and women to join the ICT sector, but I also get the feeling that by establishing an animation studio this will showcase my innovations to help Rwandan children, by creating characters and settings that they can relate to and stories to entertain and inspire them"

"“I struggled with understanding the tax system. I made a lot of expensive mistakes,”"

""As a child there were hardly any cartoons that were representative of my culture and I want to be part of changing that for the children growing up today,”"

"Innovation has become a buzzword that entrepreneurs and policy makers are fond of using. It is not enough to create something new as a business person, it needs to be valuable to your market. Therefore, at least for entrepreneurs, innovation should be focused and targeted"

"Information and Communication Technology (ICT) not only affects the way we do business on the continent, but also plays a role in supporting services including education, health, disaster management and resource management.("Itumanaho n’ikoranabuhanga (ICT) ntibigira uruhare mu buryo dukora ibijyanye n’ubucuruzi ku mugabane, ahubwo biri no kugira uruhare mu gushyigikira serivisi zirimo uburezi, ubuzima, kurwanya ibiza no mu icungamutungo.")"

"Many women do use technology, but we also need to be more involved in its development"

"I beat several other bidders to the tender. That’s when I realised that in Rwanda people don’t offer you a job based on your gender, age or financial muscle of your company."

"For my first job I even used my client’s laptop; they were only interested in my skills... It was an exciting experience"

"Yes, ICT has certainly played a role in my career through a number of ways, it has allowed me gain clients outside the country and helped promote my business ideas through social media and other platforms"

"This is one of the many reasons I think it is important for both women and men to be involved in using ICT to find new approaches to tackling our nation’s challenges. I would encourage girls and women of any age to take some short ICT courses online or offline which can help build their confidence."

"ICT is full of so many opportunities for everyone. If you have an analytical mind, go for programming, if you have a creative mind, go for graphic designing; find where you belong and go for it."

"Besides that, I wanted to give opportunity to others since I was given chance to realize my dream at the start."

"Technology can, and already does, play a huge role in Africa’s development,” she explains. “As is often said in Rwanda, it is cross cutting – in other words, it can come into play in all the other sectors of the economy. Technology is a tool and when used well, it improves the efficiency and impact of other development initiatives."