To commemorate the world’s annual celebration and honoring women dubbed International Women’s Day, leading event company, Charterhouse in partnership with Geisha Soap and Joy FM has successfully hosted the 5th edition of its annual National Women’s Summit & Expo.

The summit was held on 8th March at the Grand Arena inside the Accra International Conference Center.

This year’s summit was centered around the global theme; DigitALL – Innovation & technical for gender equality. Panel discussions were held on two themes namely; Demystifying Digital – it’s not that complicated and The Future is Digital – Women inclusion in the digital future of work.

In her opening speech, CEO of Charterhouse and convener of the summit, Theresa Ayoade made a clarion call on young women to rise up to the occasion and get out of their comfort zone to do more.

She said “Women, the future is digital but guess what? The future is now! We are now living in the Digital era, we are in the digital revolution and we cannot be left behind! Let it not be said of our generation years to come that we failed to move on with the digital revolution and have let digital inclusiveness become a gender issue in the future. We will be digitally inclusive!”

The keynote speaker, in the person of Mrs. Ethel Cofie – Tech Business Leader and founder of Women in tech Africa. Also, Chair of the government and ICT Sector Skills Board spoke about being bold and audacious in other to grow “Women need audacity to ask for more in their careers and to grow more”.

Speaking on training teachers to guide kids on career path, she said “We need to train our teachers to not frighten girls who take an interest in STEM courses. That is the only way we can propel excellence for women to take up digital innovations”

The summit had some of the most experienced female leaders, entrepreneurs, and tech experts in Ghana who were invited to also share their stories and expertise as a way of empowering women and girls. They included Venus Tawiah – Director of Business and Corporate Communications, Mariam Agyeman-Boahin – Head, Digital Marketing, ‘LETSHEGO’ Group, Thelma Quaye – Chief Digital Infrastructure Skills and Empowerment Officer, Smart Africa Secretariate (Rwanda), Tara Fela-Durotoye – Founder and CEO, House of Tara International (Nigeria), Regina Honu – Founder and CEO, Soronko Academy and finally Akosua Annobil – Founder, AB2020 and Tech in Ghana.

Workshop sessions were led by Mest – An Africa-wide technology entrepreneurship training program, internal seed fund, and network of hubs offering incubation for technology startups in Africa and B.You by Berla Mundi – A mentorship and career guidance campaign for Female students, workers, entrepreneurs, etc.

Nana Yaa Owusu-Ansah, Marketing Director for Beauty, Wellbeing and Personal Care, Unilever Ghana and Francophone Africa, in her speech reiterated Geisha’s beliefs in the capabilities of women in shaping their children and keeping their homes, “The Geisha brand has been unwavering in its belief that mothers are essential to the development of functioning societies. Geisha continues to be a “strong soap for long-lasting care”.

"It is this care that we emphasize as the catalyst pushing tomorrow’s tech professionals. Whether as professional women or as homemakers, we have innumerable stories of mothers whose strength and resilience have made the difference in their children’s academic, social, and professional outcomes,” She ended by urging all women to not only make their voices heard but make their impact felt as well.

Panel discussions were moderated by Edem Knight-Tay, programs manager, Joy FM and Emilia Ainooson.

The 5th National Women's Summit & Expo is sponsored by Geisha Soap and produced by Charterhouse in collaboration with Joy FM.