TOPICAL FOCUS WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Female-Founded Innovation As a boutique pan-African talent incubator for female-led innovation, WomHub is committed to enhancing gender parity in STEM. By partnering with leading diamond company HB Antwerp, we explore a sparkling future for Motswana women Writer: Phoebe Harper
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n a bid to address the gender disparity prevalent across Science, Technology, Engineering and Manufacturing (STEM), one significant new partnership is breaking new ground for opportunities in Botswana. Enter, the Innovation Lab. A platform dedicated to gender parity and job creation, Innovation Lab results from the partnership between WomHub - a boutique Naadiya pan-African incubator Moosajee for female led innovation, and the diamond mining company HB Antwerp. Bridging the invaluable exchange of knowledge between Belgium and Botswana, the HB Innovation Lab programme offers 30 soon-to-be and recent Engineering and Technology graduates a comprehensive training programme intended to cultivate sector-specific skills and attract local talent for HB Antwerp’s operations facility in Botswana.
The programme honours the traditional artistry of stone polishing and cutting that Belgium is known for, whilst identifying and implementing innovative approaches to diamond manufacturing using diamonds from Botswana. We speak with Naadiya Moosajee, Co-Founder of WomHub, and Margaux Donckier, Communications and External Affairs Director at HB Antwerp to find out more. Africa Outlook (AO): Could you tell us more about the foundation of WomHub – what inspired you to create the boutique incubator? Naadiya Moosajee, Co-Founder of WomHub (NM): WomHub has developed the entire ecosystem for women and girls in STEM across Africa, first through our foundation
WomEng, and over the last six years, through WomHub as a way to create more financial sustainability to the foundation work we have been doing since 2006. We have seen first-hand the gaps in diversity, equity and inclusion in the sector, and made it our mission to support talented, diverse people entering the engineering industry, working from attraction (how to get more women and girls into engineering) to ownership (how to develop and grow women-owned
