Female operated mobile phone plant embraces women’s empowerment in SA

A mobile assembly plant in South Africa which is fully occupied by women only has been heralded as an effort to embrace women’s empowerment in the country.

Minister for Communications and Digital Technologies Mondli Gungubele visited the female operated state-of-the-art Mobicel mobile assembly plant in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

The proudly South African technology brand has, since the inception of the plant in 2020, operated and managed the plant with an entirely female workforce absorbed at an average of  21 years old, all of whom are first time job seekers.

Groundbreaking

The assembly plant team stands at 153 female employees, while the rest of the company employs at least 427 women.

Gungubele said the factory is a “groundbreaking initiative” that government is proud of.

“It is a unique opportunity that puts a male dominated industry into the hands of young women through  technology skills transfer,” said Gungubele, adding that this sets these women up for further participation in the mobile technology economy.

Gungubele’s visit was part of her assessment of the country’s mobile technology economy which marks a notable recognition of South African companies’ commitment to innovation, employment, women empowerment and SMME development in the technology industry.

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Google cloud

Meanwhile,  tech giant Google Cloud announced the appointment of Noor Al-Sulaiti as head of security Business Development and Government Relations for the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa region (META).

Noor will be responsible for Google’s security expansion in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa underscoring the growing importance of cybersecurity for the company.

She will foster strategic partnerships with the public sector to leverage Google Cloud’s cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions, including CyberSshield, a powerful cybersecurity solution tailored specifically for governments. It is inspired by the concept that organisations inside a nation and around the world need to “lock shields” and stand united in their defence against shared attackers.

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