Innovator Trust's Women in Tech Awards 2025: Championing Women Shaping South Africa's Tech Landscape

Elevating African Women in ICT: Code It. Shape It. Scale It.

Johannesburg, South Africa – The Innovator Trust is proud to announce the return of the Women in Tech (WIT) Awards 2025, an essential platform dedicated to celebrating and empowering women who are rewriting the code of Africa's digital economy. Scheduled for 20 November 2025, this year's theme, “Shaping her Growth. Code It. Shape It. Scale It.”, underscores the pivotal role women-owned SMMEs play in architecting South Africa's vibrant tech future.

More than just an awards ceremony, WIT 2025 fosters critical dialogue, enhances access to opportunities, facilitates skills transfer, provides invaluable mentorship, and champions representation for women leading with intellect, innovation, and a commitment to inclusion.

Why You Can't Miss the WIT Awards 2025

This event is meticulously designed for women in tech, entrepreneurs, SMME leaders, innovators, and aspiring professionals looking to:

Gain Cutting-Edge Insights: Understand the impact of AI, strategies for scaling, and building resilient businesses in Africa.
Connect with Powerhouse Leaders: Network with top CEOs, directors, and founders who are actively shaping the continent's digital landscape.
Discover Growth Engines: Learn about access, capability, and contracts that drive real growth for tech SMMEs.
Be Inspired & Empowered: Hear first-hand accounts of overcoming challenges and championing inclusion in male-dominated sectors.
Explore Pan-African Opportunities: Unpack how the AfCFTA is transforming trade for women founders across the continent.

Thought Leaders Setting the Tone for Innovation

The day begins with two transformative voices, renowned for their expertise and authoritative impact on South Africa’s tech ecosystem:

Tashline Jooste, Chief Executive Officer, Innovator Trust:
Keynote Address: “Code It. Shape It. Scale It - Building Tech SMMEs Ready for Africa”
Focus: Redefining readiness for women-owned ICT SMMEs, emphasizing capability, confidence, and access as true engines of growth.
Insight: "Women in tech don’t need gatekeepers. They need access, capability, and contracts. WIT is where we connect those dots, code it, shape it, and scale it for Africa.”
Martha Lamola, Operations Director, Vodacom Ventures & Partnerships:
Focus: Exploring how strategic collaboration and corporate vision fuel homegrown innovation across the continent.

Illuminating Panel Discussions: The Future is Female-Built

Among the standout moments of the WIT Awards are its dynamic panel discussions, where a diverse array of women leaders bring unparalleled experience, creativity, and insight. These are the women shaping Africa’s digital and creative economies, turning ideas into innovation and vision into scalable impact.

Breakfast Panel: The AI Effect on Digital Creatives

Theme: How artificial intelligence is reshaping the creative industry, from automating design workflows to building narrative precision.
Panelists (Innovator Trust Incubation Alumni):
Aphiwe Tafeni (Olem Business Boutique)
Janine Schilder (Ignite Media)
Sisanda Mbodlela (SM Solutions PE Trading)
Zumurrud Rinquest (Curious & Creative)
Key Takeaway: Technology enhances, not replaces, human genius.

Panel 1: The AI Edge: Redefining Africa’s Digital Future

Theme: AI isn’t the future; it’s the lens through which Africa must envision itself today. Embedding AI into real business practice.
Panelists:
Atenkosi Ngubevana (Executive Head: Process Automation & Re-engineering, Vodacom Group)
Ayanda Mafuleka (CEO: FASSET)
Khosi Bambisa (Head of Group Performance, Sanlam & Co-Chairperson of the IWFSA Alumni Forum)
Key Focus: Unpacking how automation, ethics, and inclusion can merge to create intelligent systems reflecting African realities.

Panel 2: SMMEs Leading Beyond Limits: Women Steering ICT in the Age of AI

Theme: Leadership stripped of pretense and rich with perspective. What it takes to lead through uncertainty, build credibility in male-dominated sectors, and champion inclusion while staying commercially sharp.
Panelists:
Zukiswa Phillips (Managing Executive: Financial Planning & Analysis, Vodacom)
Nomvuyiso Batyi (CEO: Association of Comms and Technology)
Charmaine Houvet (Senior Director: Africa, Cisco)
Siphokazi Simandla (SMME Alumni and MD, Bolunga Systems)

Panel 3: One Africa, One Market: Trading Without Limits

Theme: From local hustles to continental enterprises – building pan-African value chains through digital, deliberate, and distinctly female-led trade.
Panelists:
Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani (Director General: Department of Communications and Digital Technologies)
Kanini Mutooni (Regional MD: Africa, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation)
Smangele Nkosi (General Manager, Cisco: Sub-Saharan Africa)
Key Focus: Exploring how the AfCFTA is turning borders into bridges.

Youth Panel: The AI Code for Africa’s Next Generation

Theme: Raw, creative, and unfiltered insights into how the next generation is coding, designing, and curating the stories of Africa's digital rise. The continent’s creative resistance – informed, bold, and global.
Panelists:
Faith Mangope (Broadcaster & Founder, FMTALI)
Kim Jayde (Entrepreneur & Media Personality)
Amahle-Imvelo Jaxa (Content Creator & Youth Advocate)
Thabile Makhoba (SMME Alumni & CEO, Makhoba Professional Services)
Serisha Barrat (Co-founder & CEO, Lawyered Up)

Guiding the Conversations: Our Esteemed Moderators

Nozipho Tshabalala (Award-winning Conversation Strategist, Global Moderator, CEO of The Conversation Strategists): Navigating powerful dialogues with precision and purpose.
Barbara Moagi (Engineer, Broadcaster, Founder of Becoming Boldly): Supporting on stage with warmth, wit, and seamless transitions.

Event at a Glance: Innovator Trust Women in Tech Awards 2025

Date: Thursday, 20th November 2025
Time: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Virtual Registration: NOW OPEN until 14th November 2025

Register Today! Shape Your Growth. Code It. Shape It. Scale It.

The message from the Innovator Trust's Women in Tech Awards 2025 is unmistakable: Africa's digital future is female-built. These women demonstrate that intellect, innovation, and integrity are the new infrastructure of growth. They are shaping industries, mentoring generations, and ensuring that the next evolution of technology speaks with an African accent and a woman's voice.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER for WIT Awards 2025