Charlette N’Guessan becomes first woman to win Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa prize

Charlette N’Guessan from Ivory Coast has been awarded the 2020 Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. This was in recognition of a digital verification system which N’Guessan and her team developed. 

The system, known as BACE API, was developed by BACE Group, a Ghana-based software company, of which N’Guessan is the CEO and co-founder. The BACE API uses facial recognition and Artificial Intelligence to verify users’ identities. This could help radically transform cyber security on the African continent as well as reduce the incidences of cyber fraud.

As the winner of the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, she received Sh3.5 million (£25,000).

From a young age, N’Guessan had a love for science and technology which was boosted by her father who is a Mathematics professor.

“I was actually really good in science-related courses. After high school, I went on to study software engineering at university,” she told CNN.

As the first woman to win the prize, N’Guessan has set the pace for other women in the continent particularly those in tech. Even as there has been an increase of tech startups globally, less than 30% are founded by women. On the continent, studies have shown that less than 10% of tech startups have women at the helm.