Have you ever wondered how childhood curiosity can shape a career in tech entrepreneurship? Our latest episode features Ahang Ditoho, co-founder of the Clicking Generation, whose journey from a curious young girl in Botswana to a trailblazing tech entrepreneur will leave you inspired. Ahang shares her story of leveraging Botswana's diamond-funded education system to pursue her passion for engineering and computers, ultimately founding a social enterprise that empowers underserved children through digital skills training.
Join us as Ahang discusses the pivotal role of funding and mentorship programs like the Mandela Washington Fellowship and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, as well as partnerships with giants like SAP and Google, in propelling her business forward. Explore the strategic shift to corporate training during the COVID-19 pandemic and dive into the advocacy initiatives that promote STEM education for girls. Finally, get an inside look at the Clicking Generation’s aspirations for the future and Ahang's heartfelt advice to fellow African women entrepreneurs on finding joy and validation in their journey. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in social impact, STEM, and the resilience of women in business.
Agang holds a bachelor’s in computer information systems from the University of Botswana and a masters in data science and AI from the European Business University. She is a Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur 2016, Mandela Washington Fellow 2016, Atlas Corps Fellow in 2018, Futurelect Fellow 2022 and a Presidential Precinct, Corporate Leaders Program Fellow 2024.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi there and welcome to another episode of African
Business Stories.
Africa is the only region inthe world where more women than
men choose to be entrepreneurs.
What this says to me is thatthe story of business in Africa
is the story of the Africanbusiness woman.
So we are on a journey ofdiscovery to find these women
(00:23):
and tell their stories.
So we're on a journey ofdiscovery to find these women
and tell their stories.
On the show, we will hear fromfemale innovators and
entrepreneurs building andrunning businesses in Africa.
They will share the highs andlows of their entrepreneurial
journey and lessons learnedalong the way.
Some of these women you mayknow, and many you may not, but
(00:48):
I assure you that all theirstories are inspiring in their
own right.
My hope is that these storieswill inspire you to reach for
your dreams and leave a legacyfor generations to come.
It makes such a big differenceto us if you can rate, review
and share our episodes.
You can do this mainly on ApplePodcasts, and you can find us
on all podcast platforms Ifyou're in Africa.
(01:09):
Spotify is now available, socheck us out there and don't
forget to rate, review and share.
On this week's episode, I chatwith Ahang Ditoho, co-founder of
the Clicking Generation, asocial impact digital skills
training company in Botswana.
We discuss how her childhoodcuriosity led her into a career
(01:34):
in computer systems and how apassion project to share
knowledge in STEM with youngpeople transformed into a
company that offers ICT trainingand develops mentoring plans
for target groups, especiallyfor girls, to encourage
involvement in science andengineering.
We also discuss funding, havingto pivot to staying business
(01:57):
and what growth looks like.
Thank you to the team atPresidential Precinct for making
the introduction and for thework they do to empower African
entrepreneurs.
Let's get into it.
Good morning Ahang.
Welcome to African BusinessStories.
Hello, hi Thank you so much forhaving me, so good to have you.
(02:17):
You know, one of the goals ofthe podcast is to interview at
least one female founder fromevery single African country the
54 African countries and we'reworking our way through that.
Some countries have had morepeople than others, but you are
my first guest from Botswana, soI'm super, super excited about
(02:38):
that.
So welcome again.
Just before we get into yourstory, I just wondered being
from Botswana some of ourlisteners may not know anything
about Botswana what are twothings you would love to share
about your country?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
So Botswana is in Southern Africa.
If you think of South Africa,we are just north of South
Africa.
It's a small country with asmall population of about 2.5
million people.
Country with a small populationof about 2.5 million people.
We are known for the Kalaharidesert.
(03:11):
We are known for our safari, weare known for the Okavango
delta.
So Botswana is a reallybeautiful, beautiful place with
warm-hearted people, and onething that really identifies
Botswana is the diamonds thatcome from the soil.
We've mined diamonds.
We've mined diamonds fordecades, and it is the very way
in which Botswana has gainedwealth.
(03:33):
Botswana has supported itscitizens, whether it's
healthcare, whether it'seducation.
So, yeah, I come from a veryrich nation with warm-hearted
people and beautiful landscape.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Thank you so much for sharing that.
So I did hear that educationfor Botswanans is free as a
result of the diamonds that thecountry mines and sells.
Is that still the case today?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
And some of us are testimonialists, so I'm from
preschool, you know theeducation has reached primary,
secondary school, tertiaryschool, even post grads.
The government is able tosponsor the learners through,
and another amazing thing isthat they are able to send even
(04:21):
some of them outside the country.
So I and many others hadtestimony of that.
How, then, our agriculture, ourtourism sector, our diamonds,
have really sustained our nation?
Speaker 1 (04:36):
and provided for us.
That's truly amazing, becausein a lot of African countries
people are thinking will I beable to go to university, can I
afford to go to school?
But then, you know, botswana isan example of how you can use
the wealth of your nation toeducate your people, and it's
been like that across multipleadministrations.
So that's a testament of goodleadership.
(04:58):
So, coming to university, youknow you did your first degree
in Botswana.
How did you come to decide whatto study when it was time to go
to university?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
So from a very young age I had always been I don't
know fascinated, but I didn'tknow it was called engineering
or science.
I just knew that I wasfascinated with how things were
together.
I would look at the radio andthink, think, how do they put it
together?
So I would get a screwdriverhide away and then just open it
(05:31):
up and see.
So I would see these cables, Iwould see all these technical,
very technical things that Idon't understand.
Put it back together and put itback.
And then parents were like thisremote today, the remote control
, maybe for the team deep down Iwould know that I had opened it
(05:51):
previously, so it was just meexploring.
And eventually I found out thatthere was this thing called
engineering.
Okay, engineering, and for youto do engineering, you should be
good in mathematics, you shouldbe good in your sciences.
So I was really intentionalabout just working hard towards.
(06:12):
And then when I was 17 yearsold, um, just when I was 16,
when I was about to graduatefrom senior school and we were
introduced to computer, theycalled it computer studies,
where we would just go into thecomputer lab and explore the
computer.
That was my fascination withcomputers and I was like how do
(06:37):
I get to know how to use thisthing?
Fast forward then I ended updoing computer systems, so it
was a fascination that grew outof curiosity and eventually led
me to my academic path.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Right, that's fantastic.
So what was your initial careerlike after you finished your
first degree?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
to become a technician.
The technician would offer usersupport through the information
technology department.
(07:24):
So I've been a systems analyst.
I've worked with the help deskcomputer systems, help desk, csc
, and I had really enjoyed theseroles.
I enjoyed them and I worked forthe University of Botswana for
two to six years.
I was with yeah on a technicalrole.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
So yeah, so I know that your co-founder was your
roommate.
I read that somewhere was youryour roommate or your friend
from university.
So at what point did you guysstart exploring the idea um of
starting a business?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
we did not set off to say we are setting an
organization or a business.
Um, it started off as a thing.
Um, I am, I'm in these classes,these computer science classes.
There's emails around us uh,very few.
Some dropped out and changed toother faculties.
(08:23):
Some didn't end up finishingcompleting on time.
Some modules were completelyrepeated multiple times by our
female colleagues and justlooking around the classroom,
the thought was how do we thenhelp young people to appreciate
that there's this thing calledsocial science, there's this
(08:46):
thing called STEM, and there'svery little of us in it.
So the Clicking Generationstarted as a passion project.
We had decided you know what,let's try mentor, let's do our
free time, let's go to theseschools and talk to the girls,
give testimony.
It was never, ever aboutdigital skills training.
(09:09):
No, and then eventually thingsstarted.
It was just got too much.
And then people are saying areyou operating as a legal entity?
And remember, these are twotechies.
We don't know anything.
We don't know anything aboutcompany registration, we know
(09:31):
very little about how then weput this thing in place.
How do you then just run anenterprise, a business, an
organization?
So we had to live.
So the second generation wasreally best out of a passion of
just trying good, out of um, outof the knowledge that we had
(09:53):
gotten, and looking around usand trying to fill the gap of um
.
Very few girls and I I lovethat.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I love the idea of passion projects that grew on to
become impactful businesses.
So you start off just doingmentoring as a passion project
and then you eventually come andregister a business.
What year are we in at thispoint when you finally
regularize and become a properlegal entity?
So we had I graduated 2010,.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
So we had done this 2011-2012.
By 2013, we were fullyoperational.
So we, after our registration,there was a competition that was
open, a startup competition,and we applied and were
successful in this.
So this funded our initialbeginnings, like the humble
(10:47):
beginning of getting our first10 computers, getting the
curriculum started because, likeI was saying, we were just
trying, but then everythingneeded to be in place.
We needed to have a curriculum,we needed to have ages like how
do we categorize what is anintermediate learner?
(11:08):
Who is an advanced learner?
How do we then cater for all ofthese?
But we have never, everforgotten the core mandate,
which was to reach the ahangs.
So the ahangs of thisgeneration can be found in rural
areas and remote areas where welive.
So we, the chicken generation,as much as we are, we have
(11:30):
offices in cities.
We are operating currently outof the Mawung area in the
northwest.
We always remember them and wealways go back, and I'm very
intentional about remotelearning.
So this is how we came about.
From 2013 to date are thesecond generation grown from
(11:50):
strength to strength?
By cosplays and we've, you know, we've across hodana.
Thousands of kids have beentrained uh, trained on coding,
introduction to different waysof learning.
Um, you know, when we talkabout you know coding are block.
(12:10):
So we try to really demystifyto our learners that it's not
difficult.
You just have to learn how tobuild things and bring them
together.
We have run checker phones.
Some of our intermediatelearners are building apps right
now.
We have a whole range.
And one thing, because of justsomething of my recent studies
(12:35):
we are even looking into AIethics.
How do we introduce them from ayoung age to be ethical and
then correct with the computeron the internet?
How to become irresponsiblecitizens?
How to contribute by beinginnovative, creating all these
apps, but remembering thehumanity behind it.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
What was the thinking behind the name?
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Yeah, so the name, the Clicking Generation.
I don't remember how exactly itcame about, but in my head it
was always about the clicking,the clicking.
How are we transforming thisgeneration?
And then so the name came aboutand, as I had it, it was very
(13:20):
colorful, it was very loud, itwas very out there.
And I then thought, if you goand look at our logo, you'll see
that it is very colorful, it isvery loud, it is out there.
And that's how the name cameabout.
How are we birthing the nextgeneration of innovators?
How are we birthing the nextgeneration of clickers who are
(13:42):
going to be creators of, youknow, these kids who are going
to be creators of innovativeproducts to solve our immediate?
Speaker 1 (13:51):
struggles.
So earlier on in theconversation you spoke about how
your goal is to reach the Ahangpeople.
Can you talk a little bit moreabout these people?
And you know, just for ourlisteners who don't know what
that is?
Speaker 2 (14:05):
The Ahangs are people like myself, people who grew up
in hopeless situations, peoplewho didn't have encouragement,
people who were just going toschool.
People who didn't haveencouragement, people who were
just going to school for thesake of going to school.
These are the little girls whoare destined to change our story
altogether.
And these are the ahangs peoplelike myself back then who
(14:30):
didn't understand where theywere going.
So I always look back at theyounger me and say how do I
speak in a language that theyunderstand?
How do I relate my story sothat they can see themselves in
me?
Because I definitely see myselfin them.
So that is just the wholemovement of.
It's a personal project.
(14:51):
It's just birthing Akhangs andI hope they become better
akhangs and yeah, so that isjust the the drive.
When it gets tough, it's justlike reflecting that this is
bigger, it's bigger.
This is so beautiful becauseakhang is your name.
Yes, akhang is my name and inmy native.
So there's this saying.
(15:11):
I'll translate it.
It says so.
It means literally your name,your curse.
So the name Ahang means tobuild, wow, literally, to build
Brick by brick by brick.
So Ahang, so this name for mehas been not not a curse, but a
(15:34):
blessing in that I'm obliged, Ihave to build, even if you know
that days when I said I'm like,why am I even doing this?
And then it's like you're hereto build, so let's go.
So it's, it's just that, justbuilding brick, uh, destiny,
another brick, encouragement,another brick.
(15:55):
So that's just, uh, who Ibelieve I am meant to be anyway,
that is that is so beautiful.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Thank you so much for for sharing that, in terms of
starting the business.
You've spoken about how youwere two techies who um stumbled
upon this passion project andit then went on to become a
business.
Are there some practical thingsthat you did to close the
knowledge gap as you steppedinto entrepreneurship?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Oh yeah, absolutely so.
It was quite intimidating atfirst.
As you can imagine.
We are these two techies, weare all all technical, we are
all about the computer and therewere some certain real life
gaps that existed.
For example, we knew verylittle about finances, we knew
very little about bookkeepinghow do you you know such things
(16:48):
and as monitoring and evaluation, impact measuring all these
things, and we had to take likepractical efforts.
We had to go on and train, getfinancial training, understand
what tax no, not individual taxonly, but how this business is
going to translate, how we aregoing to pay tax, how are we
(17:11):
going to keep our books and allthese things.
And these were the practicaltraining that we had to be very
intentional about pursuing.
We've also been very blessed andfortunate to be part of, you
know, regional and continentalprograms.
I can mention a few as aMandela Washington fellow.
We are given with tools.
(17:32):
You know you go through thisintense program where you are
given tools to just measure whatyou are doing, the impact that
you are doing.
So those have been very helpful.
In 2016, I went through theTony Elumelu Foundation program
as well.
There have been several andthey have been really helpful
program as well.
(17:53):
There have been several andthey've been really helpful.
Locally as well, we have thelocal enterprise authority which
offers free training.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
So we've been part of that as well in the past.
So, coming back to funding,talk us through how you have
managed to fund this socialenterprise over the years, and
are there any innovative thingsthat you and your co-founder
have had to do to grow thebusiness in this 10, 11 years
that you've been running?
Speaker 2 (18:17):
so the clicking generation has a very unique
model.
So we have this socialenterprise that is, you know,
impact based.
We are trying to go out tothese kids, we are going out to
these learners who don't reallyhave direct means to pay for
these services.
So in the past we've partneredwith organizations.
(18:37):
We've partnered withinternational donors, local
donors.
We've partnered with corporatesfrom outside and locally as
well.
For example, in the past we'vehad donations, support from
companies like SAP.
It ended, but it's like AfricaCode Week, which was one of the
(19:00):
biggest festivals for codingacross the country.
We've had the Google SmallGrants.
We've been funded as wellthrough the US Embassy, because
the privilege of being a formerfellow through their programs is
that you get an opportunity toapply for this funding.
And another model that we foundreally useful has been that the
(19:22):
business arm of the clickinggeneration does corporate
training.
So we go out to corporates.
We train them on relevant, youknow, depending on their needs
and the gaps that exist, wetrain them on relevant, you know
, depending on their needs andthe gaps that exist, we train
them on it's a cyber security.
We introduced efficient toolsto run their businesses, to run
their teams, and that's how then.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
This then trickles down back to the clicker
generation fantastic and I knowthat you do some advocacy work
on behalf of women and girls inSTEM.
Can you talk to us a bit aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Yes.
So recently there's been sortof like a commission and a
research that I was reading fromthe Camden Trust that based in
Ireland.
So the Camden Trust brought upnumbers that post-COVID they
didn't specify the exact number,but over a million girls did
(20:16):
not go back to school and thiswas across Africa.
These girls couldn't go back toschool because some of them,
you know, they had to go back tothe farms, they had to go back
to different areas.
Some of them unfortunately fellpregnant and it was just.
It was heartbreaking.
(20:36):
So I reflected and looked at ourpast projects.
One is Girls for ICT.
Girls in ICT is a programthrough the ITU which member
countries partake in.
So we've been part of Girls inICT just to encourage girls to
say, you know, stem is here,stem is here to stay.
(20:57):
You should as well, you know,contribute to STEM.
You should don't be intimidatedby mathematics or science.
There's also this programthrough GIZ.
Giz is the German embassyinitiative which just talks to
e-skills for girls.
So for years we've been part ofe-skills for, where we are just
(21:18):
deliberately targeting girls tosay, just like myself, you know
, go out there.
You know, be fearless andpursue.
And we are not, by the way.
(21:45):
We are not saying they shouldgo into computer science or
related.
We are just saying there's somuch opportunities If they're
destined to be whatever they'redestined to be.
This is just one enabling toolthat we use to encourage them.
So that's our voice andadvocacy and encouraging these
young girls.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Coming out of COVID was very challenging for a lot
of businesses, especially on thecontinent, and it felt like
2022 was probably worse than youknow 2020 or 2021 for a lot of
businesses and just how peoplehave had to pivot and try new
things to stay afloat and tokeep their businesses going.
(22:24):
I noticed that you starteddoing corporate training and I
wonder was that an attempt topivot?
How did you get into corporatetraining and what has that been
like for Clicking Generation?
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Yeah, so we saw the gap, especially after COVID.
You know, everybody was goingonline and our main customers,
the kids in these remote areas,didn't have internet or
connectivity to enjoy theservices that we offer, so
naturally we didn't even thinktoo much about it.
It was just this naturaltransition and seeing this gap
(23:01):
that exists, and then we jumpedon it and the people that we
approached and we worked with sothey needed these services.
So that has been one aspectthat really has worked for us as
well.
Recently we've worked withingovernance as well.
We've been training on digitaltools for campaigning.
(23:22):
This is a recent project thatis still ongoing.
So that is part of that's howwe get our funding, that's how
we train all these aspects,because, remember, ict tech is
all over, like it's ingovernance, it's in's in finance
, it's everywhere.
So that has really been a pivotthat we see you're already
(23:43):
seeing the fruit of that's whatrunning a business is like,
isn't it?
Speaker 1 (23:47):
you know you keep your passion inside, but you,
you do what you need to do tokeep the the lights on.
So I just wonder over the nextfive years, what does growth
look like for the clickinggeneration?
Speaker 2 (23:59):
so the next five years for the, does growth look
like for the clicking generation?
So the next five years for theclicking generation, by God's
grace we are hoping to havereached the corners of Botswana,
to have gone to these remoteareas, many of them, to have
found partners that not onlybelieve in our vision but are
patient within the work that wedo and to just keep on and just
(24:24):
holding on.
So, yeah, possibly I don't knowfive years might look like
maybe growing out of Botswanaand going outside the borders of
Botswana, but really, reallywant to go to all the corners of
Botswana, but really reallywant to go to all the corners of
Botswana and just raise amovement, a movement of young,
(24:44):
innovative, skilled, youngpeople who are going to
transform our continent.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
So, in terms of wrapping up, when I come to wrap
up, I ask my guests twoquestions for a reflection and
for advice.
Reflection I wonder what youwould say.
I mean, you are building brickby brick, a very impactful
business, so all you do is aboutimpact.
But if you could reflect on onething that you were most proud
(25:13):
of as you have built the, theclicking generation, what would
that be?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
That's a tough one, but you know, always when we get
these grants, we get thesupport.
there's always a part in thereport where you need to measure
impact, where you need to drawall these fancy graphs and talk
about how many people have youimpacted.
But for me, it's alwaysdifficult to reflect on the
(25:42):
impact that was felt.
Sometimes it's about how, youknow, a little girl touches her
mouse for the first time.
It's like the twinkle in theeye, and then there's just this
little boy who's just pullingthings apart, just like whether
it's a CPU, and you're like howdo I measure such a thing?
(26:04):
So for me, in reflection, thejourney has been fulfilling.
It has been just, I don't know,I can't even express it in
words.
So, in reflection, when I getback to my why it's all these
small things that you can'treally measure and put in words
(26:24):
or put in a graph, but just inmy heart, I'm just like this is
the reason why I do what I do.
So, yeah, so it's really, it'sencouraging.
It encourages me as well, um,when, because, like we talked
about the, you know, running anenterprise, running an
organization, it's not alwayseasy and these are the things
(26:47):
that are validating and yeah,and then you sit and reflect and
say, you know, um, god is goodin terms of just giving you the
peace of knowing that you are inthe right journey, even when it
seems like it's not.
You are not, yeah, so yeah, itmakes me feel good enough many
(27:10):
days.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Yeah, in terms of advice, what advice would you
give to other women who arebuilding businesses across
Africa?
Speaker 2 (27:21):
It's not always easy, but just stay the course.
Just always look back to whyyou are doing what you are doing
.
You are doing great, even whenit seems like you are not.
So running a business is noteasy, but you are destined for
it, so just keep on keeping on.
(27:42):
The best is yet to come, that'samazing.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Thank you so much for your time, Ahang.
This has been such a greatconversation.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
It has been my pleasure.
Thank you for the opportunity.
Yeah, we're truly grateful.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Thank you so much for listening.
If you're not alreadysubscribed, please do so on
Apple, spotify or wherever youget your podcasts, and don't
forget to leave us a review sowe know how we're doing.
I'm Akego Okoye and you havebeen listening to African
Business Stories.
Hi there and welcome to another episode of African
Business Stories.
Africa is the only region inthe world where more women than
men choose to be entrepreneurs.
What this says to me is thatthe story of business in Africa
is the story of the Africanbusiness woman.
So we are on a journey ofdiscovery to find these women
(00:23):
and tell their stories.
So we're on a journey ofdiscovery to find these women
and tell their stories.
On the show, we will hear fromfemale innovators and
entrepreneurs building andrunning businesses in Africa.
They will share the highs andlows of their entrepreneurial
journey and lessons learnedalong the way.
Some of these women you mayknow, and many you may not, but
(00:48):
I assure you that all theirstories are inspiring in their
own right.
My hope is that these storieswill inspire you to reach for
your dreams and leave a legacyfor generations to come.
It makes such a big differenceto us if you can rate, review
and share our episodes.
You can do this mainly on ApplePodcasts, and you can find us
on all podcast platforms Ifyou're in Africa.
(01:09):
Spotify is now available, socheck us out there and don't
forget to rate, review and share.
On this week's episode, I chatwith Ahang Ditoho, co-founder of
the Clicking Generation, asocial impact digital skills
training company in Botswana.
We discuss how her childhoodcuriosity led her into a career
(01:34):
in computer systems and how apassion project to share
knowledge in STEM with youngpeople transformed into a
company that offers ICT trainingand develops mentoring plans
for target groups, especiallyfor girls, to encourage
involvement in science andengineering.
We also discuss funding, havingto pivot to staying business
(01:57):
and what growth looks like.
Thank you to the team atPresidential Precinct for making
the introduction and for thework they do to empower African
entrepreneurs.
Let's get into it.
Good morning Ahang.
Welcome to African BusinessStories.
Hello, hi Thank you so much forhaving me, so good to have you.
(02:17):
You know, one of the goals ofthe podcast is to interview at
least one female founder fromevery single African country the
54 African countries and we'reworking our way through that.
Some countries have had morepeople than others, but you are
my first guest from Botswana, soI'm super, super excited about
(02:38):
that.
So welcome again.
Just before we get into yourstory, I just wondered being
from Botswana some of ourlisteners may not know anything
about Botswana what are twothings you would love to share
about your country?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
So Botswana is in Southern Africa.
If you think of South Africa,we are just north of South
Africa.
It's a small country with asmall population of about 2.5
million people.
Country with a small populationof about 2.5 million people.
We are known for the Kalaharidesert.
(03:11):
We are known for our safari, weare known for the Okavango
delta.
So Botswana is a reallybeautiful, beautiful place with
warm-hearted people, and onething that really identifies
Botswana is the diamonds thatcome from the soil.
We've mined diamonds.
We've mined diamonds fordecades, and it is the very way
in which Botswana has gainedwealth.
(03:33):
Botswana has supported itscitizens, whether it's
healthcare, whether it'seducation.
So, yeah, I come from a veryrich nation with warm-hearted
people and beautiful landscape.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Thank you so much for sharing that.
So I did hear that educationfor Botswanans is free as a
result of the diamonds that thecountry mines and sells.
Is that still the case today?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
And some of us are testimonialists, so I'm from
preschool, you know theeducation has reached primary,
secondary school, tertiaryschool, even post grads.
The government is able tosponsor the learners through,
and another amazing thing isthat they are able to send even
(04:21):
some of them outside the country.
So I and many others hadtestimony of that.
How, then, our agriculture, ourtourism sector, our diamonds,
have really sustained our nation?
Speaker 1 (04:36):
and provided for us.
That's truly amazing, becausein a lot of African countries
people are thinking will I beable to go to university, can I
afford to go to school?
But then, you know, botswana isan example of how you can use
the wealth of your nation toeducate your people, and it's
been like that across multipleadministrations.
So that's a testament of goodleadership.
(04:58):
So, coming to university, youknow you did your first degree
in Botswana.
How did you come to decide whatto study when it was time to go
to university?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
So from a very young age I had always been I don't
know fascinated, but I didn'tknow it was called engineering
or science.
I just knew that I wasfascinated with how things were
together.
I would look at the radio andthink, think, how do they put it
together?
So I would get a screwdriverhide away and then just open it
(05:31):
up and see.
So I would see these cables, Iwould see all these technical,
very technical things that Idon't understand.
Put it back together and put itback.
And then parents were like thisremote today, the remote control
, maybe for the team deep down Iwould know that I had opened it
(05:51):
previously, so it was just meexploring.
And eventually I found out thatthere was this thing called
engineering.
Okay, engineering, and for youto do engineering, you should be
good in mathematics, you shouldbe good in your sciences.
So I was really intentionalabout just working hard towards.
(06:12):
And then when I was 17 yearsold, um, just when I was 16,
when I was about to graduatefrom senior school and we were
introduced to computer, theycalled it computer studies,
where we would just go into thecomputer lab and explore the
computer.
That was my fascination withcomputers and I was like how do
(06:37):
I get to know how to use thisthing?
Fast forward then I ended updoing computer systems, so it
was a fascination that grew outof curiosity and eventually led
me to my academic path.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Right, that's fantastic.
So what was your initial careerlike after you finished your
first degree?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
to become a technician.
The technician would offer usersupport through the information
technology department.
(07:24):
So I've been a systems analyst.
I've worked with the help deskcomputer systems, help desk, csc
, and I had really enjoyed theseroles.
I enjoyed them and I worked forthe University of Botswana for
two to six years.
I was with yeah on a technicalrole.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
So yeah, so I know that your co-founder was your
roommate.
I read that somewhere was youryour roommate or your friend
from university.
So at what point did you guysstart exploring the idea um of
starting a business?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
we did not set off to say we are setting an
organization or a business.
Um, it started off as a thing.
Um, I am, I'm in these classes,these computer science classes.
There's emails around us uh,very few.
Some dropped out and changed toother faculties.
(08:23):
Some didn't end up finishingcompleting on time.
Some modules were completelyrepeated multiple times by our
female colleagues and justlooking around the classroom,
the thought was how do we thenhelp young people to appreciate
that there's this thing calledsocial science, there's this
(08:46):
thing called STEM, and there'svery little of us in it.
So the Clicking Generationstarted as a passion project.
We had decided you know what,let's try mentor, let's do our
free time, let's go to theseschools and talk to the girls,
give testimony.
It was never, ever aboutdigital skills training.
(09:09):
No, and then eventually thingsstarted.
It was just got too much.
And then people are saying areyou operating as a legal entity?
And remember, these are twotechies.
We don't know anything.
We don't know anything aboutcompany registration, we know
(09:31):
very little about how then weput this thing in place.
How do you then just run anenterprise, a business, an
organization?
So we had to live.
So the second generation wasreally best out of a passion of
just trying good, out of um, outof the knowledge that we had
(09:53):
gotten, and looking around usand trying to fill the gap of um
.
Very few girls and I I lovethat.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I love the idea of passion projects that grew on to
become impactful businesses.
So you start off just doingmentoring as a passion project
and then you eventually come andregister a business.
What year are we in at thispoint when you finally
regularize and become a properlegal entity?
So we had I graduated 2010,.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
So we had done this 2011-2012.
By 2013, we were fullyoperational.
So we, after our registration,there was a competition that was
open, a startup competition,and we applied and were
successful in this.
So this funded our initialbeginnings, like the humble
(10:47):
beginning of getting our first10 computers, getting the
curriculum started because, likeI was saying, we were just
trying, but then everythingneeded to be in place.
We needed to have a curriculum,we needed to have ages like how
do we categorize what is anintermediate learner?
(11:08):
Who is an advanced learner?
How do we then cater for all ofthese?
But we have never, everforgotten the core mandate,
which was to reach the ahangs.
So the ahangs of thisgeneration can be found in rural
areas and remote areas where welive.
So we, the chicken generation,as much as we are, we have
(11:30):
offices in cities.
We are operating currently outof the Mawung area in the
northwest.
We always remember them and wealways go back, and I'm very
intentional about remotelearning.
So this is how we came about.
From 2013 to date are thesecond generation grown from
(11:50):
strength to strength?
By cosplays and we've, you know, we've across hodana.
Thousands of kids have beentrained uh, trained on coding,
introduction to different waysof learning.
Um, you know, when we talkabout you know coding are block.
(12:10):
So we try to really demystifyto our learners that it's not
difficult.
You just have to learn how tobuild things and bring them
together.
We have run checker phones.
Some of our intermediatelearners are building apps right
now.
We have a whole range.
And one thing, because of justsomething of my recent studies
(12:35):
we are even looking into AIethics.
How do we introduce them from ayoung age to be ethical and
then correct with the computeron the internet?
How to become irresponsiblecitizens?
How to contribute by beinginnovative, creating all these
apps, but remembering thehumanity behind it.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
What was the thinking behind the name?
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Yeah, so the name, the Clicking Generation.
I don't remember how exactly itcame about, but in my head it
was always about the clicking,the clicking.
How are we transforming thisgeneration?
And then so the name came aboutand, as I had it, it was very
(13:20):
colorful, it was very loud, itwas very out there.
And I then thought, if you goand look at our logo, you'll see
that it is very colorful, it isvery loud, it is out there.
And that's how the name cameabout.
How are we birthing the nextgeneration of innovators?
How are we birthing the nextgeneration of clickers who are
(13:42):
going to be creators of, youknow, these kids who are going
to be creators of innovativeproducts to solve our immediate?
Speaker 1 (13:51):
struggles.
So earlier on in theconversation you spoke about how
your goal is to reach the Ahangpeople.
Can you talk a little bit moreabout these people?
And you know, just for ourlisteners who don't know what
that is?
Speaker 2 (14:05):
The Ahangs are people like myself, people who grew up
in hopeless situations, peoplewho didn't have encouragement,
people who were just going toschool.
People who didn't haveencouragement, people who were
just going to school for thesake of going to school.
These are the little girls whoare destined to change our story
altogether.
And these are the ahangs peoplelike myself back then who
(14:30):
didn't understand where theywere going.
So I always look back at theyounger me and say how do I
speak in a language that theyunderstand?
How do I relate my story sothat they can see themselves in
me?
Because I definitely see myselfin them.
So that is just the wholemovement of.
It's a personal project.
(14:51):
It's just birthing Akhangs andI hope they become better
akhangs and yeah, so that isjust the the drive.
When it gets tough, it's justlike reflecting that this is
bigger, it's bigger.
This is so beautiful becauseakhang is your name.
Yes, akhang is my name and inmy native.
So there's this saying.
(15:11):
I'll translate it.
It says so.
It means literally your name,your curse.
So the name Ahang means tobuild, wow, literally, to build
Brick by brick by brick.
So Ahang, so this name for mehas been not not a curse, but a
(15:34):
blessing in that I'm obliged, Ihave to build, even if you know
that days when I said I'm like,why am I even doing this?
And then it's like you're hereto build, so let's go.
So it's, it's just that, justbuilding brick, uh, destiny,
another brick, encouragement,another brick.
(15:55):
So that's just, uh, who Ibelieve I am meant to be anyway,
that is that is so beautiful.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Thank you so much for for sharing that, in terms of
starting the business.
You've spoken about how youwere two techies who um stumbled
upon this passion project andit then went on to become a
business.
Are there some practical thingsthat you did to close the
knowledge gap as you steppedinto entrepreneurship?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Oh yeah, absolutely so.
It was quite intimidating atfirst.
As you can imagine.
We are these two techies, weare all all technical, we are
all about the computer and therewere some certain real life
gaps that existed.
For example, we knew verylittle about finances, we knew
very little about bookkeepinghow do you you know such things
(16:48):
and as monitoring and evaluation, impact measuring all these
things, and we had to take likepractical efforts.
We had to go on and train, getfinancial training, understand
what tax no, not individual taxonly, but how this business is
going to translate, how we aregoing to pay tax, how are we
(17:11):
going to keep our books and allthese things.
And these were the practicaltraining that we had to be very
intentional about pursuing.
We've also been very blessed andfortunate to be part of, you
know, regional and continentalprograms.
I can mention a few as aMandela Washington fellow.
We are given with tools.
(17:32):
You know you go through thisintense program where you are
given tools to just measure whatyou are doing, the impact that
you are doing.
So those have been very helpful.
In 2016, I went through theTony Elumelu Foundation program
as well.
There have been several andthey have been really helpful
program as well.
(17:53):
There have been several andthey've been really helpful.
Locally as well, we have thelocal enterprise authority which
offers free training.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
So we've been part of that as well in the past.
So, coming back to funding,talk us through how you have
managed to fund this socialenterprise over the years, and
are there any innovative thingsthat you and your co-founder
have had to do to grow thebusiness in this 10, 11 years
that you've been running?
Speaker 2 (18:17):
so the clicking generation has a very unique
model.
So we have this socialenterprise that is, you know,
impact based.
We are trying to go out tothese kids, we are going out to
these learners who don't reallyhave direct means to pay for
these services.
So in the past we've partneredwith organizations.
(18:37):
We've partnered withinternational donors, local
donors.
We've partnered with corporatesfrom outside and locally as
well.
For example, in the past we'vehad donations, support from
companies like SAP.
It ended, but it's like AfricaCode Week, which was one of the
(19:00):
biggest festivals for codingacross the country.
We've had the Google SmallGrants.
We've been funded as wellthrough the US Embassy, because
the privilege of being a formerfellow through their programs is
that you get an opportunity toapply for this funding.
And another model that we foundreally useful has been that the
(19:22):
business arm of the clickinggeneration does corporate
training.
So we go out to corporates.
We train them on relevant, youknow, depending on their needs
and the gaps that exist, wetrain them on relevant, you know
, depending on their needs andthe gaps that exist, we train
them on it's a cyber security.
We introduced efficient toolsto run their businesses, to run
their teams, and that's how then.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
This then trickles down back to the clicker
generation fantastic and I knowthat you do some advocacy work
on behalf of women and girls inSTEM.
Can you talk to us a bit aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Yes.
So recently there's been sortof like a commission and a
research that I was reading fromthe Camden Trust that based in
Ireland.
So the Camden Trust brought upnumbers that post-COVID they
didn't specify the exact number,but over a million girls did
(20:16):
not go back to school and thiswas across Africa.
These girls couldn't go back toschool because some of them,
you know, they had to go back tothe farms, they had to go back
to different areas.
Some of them unfortunately fellpregnant and it was just.
It was heartbreaking.
(20:36):
So I reflected and looked at ourpast projects.
One is Girls for ICT.
Girls in ICT is a programthrough the ITU which member
countries partake in.
So we've been part of Girls inICT just to encourage girls to
say, you know, stem is here,stem is here to stay.
(20:57):
You should as well, you know,contribute to STEM.
You should don't be intimidatedby mathematics or science.
There's also this programthrough GIZ.
Giz is the German embassyinitiative which just talks to
e-skills for girls.
So for years we've been part ofe-skills for, where we are just
(21:18):
deliberately targeting girls tosay, just like myself, you know
, go out there.
You know, be fearless andpursue.
And we are not, by the way.
(21:45):
We are not saying they shouldgo into computer science or
related.
We are just saying there's somuch opportunities If they're
destined to be whatever they'redestined to be.
This is just one enabling toolthat we use to encourage them.
So that's our voice andadvocacy and encouraging these
young girls.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Coming out of COVID was very challenging for a lot
of businesses, especially on thecontinent, and it felt like
2022 was probably worse than youknow 2020 or 2021 for a lot of
businesses and just how peoplehave had to pivot and try new
things to stay afloat and tokeep their businesses going.
(22:24):
I noticed that you starteddoing corporate training and I
wonder was that an attempt topivot?
How did you get into corporatetraining and what has that been
like for Clicking Generation?
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Yeah, so we saw the gap, especially after COVID.
You know, everybody was goingonline and our main customers,
the kids in these remote areas,didn't have internet or
connectivity to enjoy theservices that we offer, so
naturally we didn't even thinktoo much about it.
It was just this naturaltransition and seeing this gap
(23:01):
that exists, and then we jumpedon it and the people that we
approached and we worked with sothey needed these services.
So that has been one aspectthat really has worked for us as
well.
Recently we've worked withingovernance as well.
We've been training on digitaltools for campaigning.
(23:22):
This is a recent project thatis still ongoing.
So that is part of that's howwe get our funding, that's how
we train all these aspects,because, remember, ict tech is
all over, like it's ingovernance, it's in's in finance
, it's everywhere.
So that has really been a pivotthat we see you're already
(23:43):
seeing the fruit of that's whatrunning a business is like,
isn't it?
Speaker 1 (23:47):
you know you keep your passion inside, but you,
you do what you need to do tokeep the the lights on.
So I just wonder over the nextfive years, what does growth
look like for the clickinggeneration?
Speaker 2 (23:59):
so the next five years for the, does growth look
like for the clicking generation?
So the next five years for theclicking generation, by God's
grace we are hoping to havereached the corners of Botswana,
to have gone to these remoteareas, many of them, to have
found partners that not onlybelieve in our vision but are
patient within the work that wedo and to just keep on and just
(24:24):
holding on.
So, yeah, possibly I don't knowfive years might look like
maybe growing out of Botswanaand going outside the borders of
Botswana, but really, reallywant to go to all the corners of
Botswana, but really reallywant to go to all the corners of
Botswana and just raise amovement, a movement of young,
(24:44):
innovative, skilled, youngpeople who are going to
transform our continent.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
So, in terms of wrapping up, when I come to wrap
up, I ask my guests twoquestions for a reflection and
for advice.
Reflection I wonder what youwould say.
I mean, you are building brickby brick, a very impactful
business, so all you do is aboutimpact.
But if you could reflect on onething that you were most proud
(25:13):
of as you have built the, theclicking generation, what would
that be?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
That's a tough one, but you know, always when we get
these grants, we get thesupport.
there's always a part in thereport where you need to measure
impact, where you need to drawall these fancy graphs and talk
about how many people have youimpacted.
But for me, it's alwaysdifficult to reflect on the
(25:42):
impact that was felt.
Sometimes it's about how, youknow, a little girl touches her
mouse for the first time.
It's like the twinkle in theeye, and then there's just this
little boy who's just pullingthings apart, just like whether
it's a CPU, and you're like howdo I measure such a thing?
(26:04):
So for me, in reflection, thejourney has been fulfilling.
It has been just, I don't know,I can't even express it in
words.
So, in reflection, when I getback to my why it's all these
small things that you can'treally measure and put in words
(26:24):
or put in a graph, but just inmy heart, I'm just like this is
the reason why I do what I do.
So, yeah, so it's really, it'sencouraging.
It encourages me as well, um,when, because, like we talked
about the, you know, running anenterprise, running an
organization, it's not alwayseasy and these are the things
(26:47):
that are validating and yeah,and then you sit and reflect and
say, you know, um, god is goodin terms of just giving you the
peace of knowing that you are inthe right journey, even when it
seems like it's not.
You are not, yeah, so yeah, itmakes me feel good enough many
(27:10):
days.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Yeah, in terms of advice, what advice would you
give to other women who arebuilding businesses across
Africa?
Speaker 2 (27:21):
It's not always easy, but just stay the course.
Just always look back to whyyou are doing what you are doing
.
You are doing great, even whenit seems like you are not.
So running a business is noteasy, but you are destined for
it, so just keep on keeping on.
(27:42):
The best is yet to come, that'samazing.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Thank you so much for your time, Ahang.
This has been such a greatconversation.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
It has been my pleasure.
Thank you for the opportunity.
Yeah, we're truly grateful.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Thank you so much for listening.
If you're not alreadysubscribed, please do so on
Apple, spotify or wherever youget your podcasts, and don't
forget to leave us a review sowe know how we're doing.
I'm Akego Okoye and you havebeen listening to African
Business Stories.
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