Online Reporter
Sifelani Tsiko
Fact Check Editor
THE sterling efforts of five Zimbabwean innovators were recognised at this year’s TechWomen programme in the United States, firmly putting the country on the global technology and innovation stage.
The five exceptional women, who were named among the top 108 out of the nearly 6 000 women who applied in 2025, are Dr Melody Ndemera, Gcinithemba Sherilyn Maphosa, Nyaradzo Nancy Murira, Chiedza Chabikwa and Tafadzwa Muusha.
The innovators, drawn from various research and academic sectors, have done the nation proud by winning a seed grant to develop a social impact project that is expected to bring meaningful impact in the livelihoods of people in the country.
Dr Ndemera, a technology expert from Harare Institute of Technology (HIT), was quoted in a report saying the recognition represented not only a personal achievement, but a collective victory for women in science and technology across Africa.
“This experience has reaffirmed our belief that African women belong at the forefront of global innovation. It is about more than technology, it is about representation, collaboration, and changing perceptions of what African women in STEM can achieve,” she said.
This achievement adds to Zimbabwe’s technology and innovation thrust, which centres on Education 5.0, that integrates teaching, research, innovation, industrialisation, and community service to develop goods and services and achieve Vision 2030.
This involves promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging natural resources and human skills, modernising the ICT sector through public-private partnerships, and fostering disruptive technologies.
The TechWomen grant will enable the team to fine-tune and implement their project in a way that is expected to address some pressing social problems in the country.
Said Dr Ndemera in an interview with the Herald: “I really feel encouraged in that, you know, we are doing something in this journey, in the science journey as women, because we have lately started to feel like, you know, there’s very little progress in terms of advancement of women in talent intake in Zimbabwe,” said Dr Melody Ndemera, a technology expert from HIT.
“This just validates us that we are actually doing positive things that are even recognisable in the global scientific space. We competed against 21 other countries and this is really, really a validation that our ideas are not minimal when we compare to other people from other countries.”
Dr Ndemera said science has no borders or boundaries and nothing can stop Zimbabwean women from scaling new heights in the global technology and innovation space.
“If you are up to the task, if you really know your stuff, you can be equal to any task and any nationality, regardless of any limitations that you have. So we are ecstatic, we are over the moon, we are happy that indeed we are reaping the fruits of things, of seeds that have been sown by our mentors who have pushed us from when we were young girls,” she said.
“The likes of Dr Olivia Muchena, a former Minister of Science and Technology Development and former Government director, Dr Rungano Karimanzira, who were the pioneers of trying to put women in STEM out there, were quite influential people.”
