The Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu said the Agency would double the number of female Engineers in Nigeria over the next five years.
The EVC/CEO made this over the weekend during the official launch of “Developing Engineering Leaders Through Her” (DELT-Her), an event that also coincided with the global commemoration of International Women’s Day (IWD).
Delt-Her, according to Mr. Halilu is an initiative, a subset of the Delta-2 program, floated to close the gender gap in engineering practice in the country, inspire the next generation of female engineers, provide financing support for new ideas and projects, translate them into viable businesses, and ultimately to strengthen the entire engineering ecosystem.
While noting that NASENI would be funding great engineering ideas from girls and women who will participate in the program, Halilu said:
According to him, what this should ideally mean is that women should make up half of all professional spaces in the country but, for now, this is far from reality.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman of the PICTT, Dr. Mohammed Dahiru stated that the Committee, through continuous support of NASENI is determined to fund innovative and commercially viable ideas in engineering and technology-oriented proposals by women.
He said the launch of the call for proposals from young women marks the beginning of a chain of events which are expected to lead to engineering start-up companies owned and run by women.”
In her keynote address, the President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Engr. Margaret Aina Oguntala said the DELT-HER initiative sought to address the challenges of practice by the female gender and to unlock the full potential of women in engineering.