When Wepngong Maureen Wepnyu was growing up in her native Ndu, in the Donga Matung Division of Cameroon’s North West Region, she never envisaged becoming a tech entrepreneur one day.
At high school in Nkambe, Maureen was not interested in tech, despite taking ICT as a subject.
In 2019, she enrolled in public administration at the University of Buea, South West Cameroon.
There, she was living with a tech guru older brother, yet that did not move her.
While studying, the 25-year-old had to be doing something to sustain herself.
So she started selling cooked food. Maureen would make pastries and snacks for people as well.
“But towards my graduation in 2022, I started asking myself what I was going to do when I grew up because I was growing up. What was going to be my backup plan?” she said.
Journey into Tech
Upon deep reflection, Wepngong Maureen realised that there were a lot of opportunities in the fields of STEM—science, technology, engineering, and maths.
She told MMI that she went in because she wanted to be part of the solution.
“When I started, it became so interesting. I don’t know when I started learning the ins and outs of software engineering,” she told MMI.
She enrolled in a tech academy for three months, and when she graduated from her public administration at the university in 2022 with a BSc, she instead got her first paid tech job.
“That is how I got into it, and I enjoyed every bit of it,” she added.
Founder of Giiyo Tech
“When I started studying public administration, it never occurred to me that one day I would be starting a tech company,” she said.
Now a partner in the tech community, the Douala-based tech entrepreneur realised that STEM was still a far-fetched dream for many, especially young girls in Cameroon.
Her vision was to reduce that barrier, find solutions, and improve lives in Cameroon, which is still backward in technology compared to other countries.
Owing to that, she created Giiyo Tech. Giiyo, in her dialect, means “Do yours.”
The platform, she says, is to help her find solutions to problems and not wait for anyone.
Giiyo Tech is focused on empowering future innovators.
“We teach children between the ages of 7 and 18 how to code, build websites and web applications, develop mobile apps, and make games. We also teach them UI designing, 3-D designing, printing, and elementary robotics,” Maureen told MMI.
According to her, when she started Giiyo Tech, her interest was to create something that could make children think differently.
“When I see children in other parts of the world, they are so smart in electronics; they do amazing things, and us back in Cameroon, we don’t even teach our children anything,” she added.
To her, looking at the different parts of the world moving forward, it was time for them to create theirs.
Not Without Challenges
First of all, studying tech was challenging for her. Coming from a social science background and being in a tech class with children from engineering and electronics was not easy for Maureen.
However, her passion for unravelling the mystery of building tomorrow’s innovators kept her going.
When she started doing her tech jobs, people would throw slang at her that tech was not good for a woman and that it was too demanding.
“At that time, I wasn’t good with what I was doing. I was still starting. I would feel like, Wow, is that how it is going to be? In fact, I felt very bad.”
Well, she accepted the criticism as a batch of honour, and today, she is breaking boundaries.
“One of the most pervasive stereotypes we still grapple with in the 21st century is that STEM fields are suitable only for boys,” she said.
“You will hear someone say they don’t think girls can code well. That is crazy,” Maureen bemoaned.
STEM Ambassador for Young Girls
Wepngong Maureen Maureen is now a STEM Ambassador. She has also dedicated her time to ensuring that girls grow up in the field of STEM.
She believes girls are not encouraged enough to get into this field. To her, even the few in the field often get remarks that make them feel inferior.
To eliminate all the impediments, she is urging for girls’ exposure to fields of STEM. She said most young girls don’t even know whom they can have as role models in the domain.
Maureen, however, thinks that parents and teachers too are not making it easy for girls as they keep discouraging them from STEM subjects.
“They don’t encourage the girl child as much as they encourage the boys,” she said.
“To address these issues, we need a multifaceted approach. Organise education reforms, mentorship programs, media representation, and workplace policy changes.”
To her, there is a need for an environment where girls feel empowered and supported to pursue their interest in STEM regardless of societal expectations.
STEM in Schools
She told MMI that, to increase the participation of girls and women in this field, STEM subjects should be introduced in a fun and engaging way, starting from elementary school.
“Another thing we could do is create mentorship programs to connect young girls to women who are already working in STEM fields,” she added.
Owing to her strides, she has started crisscrossing the continent to get the community message on things done to shape lives of future generations in Cameroon.
Recently, she was in Nairobi, Kenya, where she amplified the grassroots voices on global blockchain governance.
She did that in front of world leaders.
Though STEM for girls and women is still a challenging domain in Cameroon, women like Maureen and others are committed to addressing those difficulties.
Additional reporting By an MMI Correspondent
