African women urged to go beyond university degrees
African women have been urged to look beyond conventional university degrees and take advantage of technology to claim their rightful place in leadership and development.
The Director-General of Administration and Consular Services at the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC), Dr Obaapanin Oforiwaa Adu, said women must move beyond being passive users of technology and become creators capable of developing digital solutions to address real-life challenges.
She made the call at the 2026 CAMFED Association (CAMA) Summit held in Accra yesterday.
The summit, on the theme, “Rooted in lived experience: Shaping the future,” brought together young female leaders, educators and development partners from Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Dr Adu cautioned African women against limiting their use of social media and digital platforms to entertainment, urging them to utilise their digital knowledge and spaces to innovate and address societal challenges.
She said the coming decade would be driven largely by technology, making it important for women to participate actively in the design, development, production and control of digital tools that affected their daily lives.
Dr Adu commended the CAMFED network for supporting thousands of young women to attain university education but noted that a university degree alone was no longer sufficient in the rapidly changing world.
She urged young women to be bold, occupy executive boardrooms and ensure that their voices were heard at decision-making levels.
She also encouraged women who had attained leadership positions to create opportunities for others to rise and succeed.
The Executive Director of CAMFED Ghana, Madam Faruza Abdul-Rashid Safian, stressed the need for increased investment in Africa’s youth.
Citing continental data, she said young people constituted about 75 per cent of Africa’s population and warned that the continent could not achieve sustainable development if its youth continued to face high unemployment and limited access to quality skills training.
She said the week-long summit would focus on building sustainable enterprises, influencing policy and promoting inclusive education for girls and persons with disabilities.
The summit ended with a call on young women to take bold risks, build strong networks and use creative media to tell authentic African stories.
BY AGNES OPOKU SARPONG
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