Every week, African Start-Up follows entrepreneurs in various countries across the continent to see how they are working to make their business dreams become reality.
(CNN) — "It was like taking a big leap of faith."
That’s how Regina Agyare describes her decision back in 2012 to leave her well-paid job at a major international bank in Ghana’s capital Accra to follow her dream and embark on her own entrepreneurial journey. Having worked for six years as the bank’s only female IT specialist, Agyare quit everything to create Soronko Solutions, a software development company.
"My friends thought I was crazy," recalls Agyare. "But I was like, ‘this is it!’"
One of Ghana’s first female tech entrepreneurs, Agyare had to overcome many challenges in starting her business — beginning with breaking the gender barrier in her country.
"As an African woman, the role is you go to school, you get a job, you marry," says Agyare, whose startup is now building corporate websites and e-commerce portals for more than 30 businesses in Accra. "Entrepreneurship is not something that you are taught so I never saw myself as an entrepreneur."
Last summer, out of a passion to pass on her expertise, Agyare co-founded "Tech Needs Girls," a mentorship and educational initiative aiming to encourage young women to pursue a career in technology. Along with other female computer scientists, she makes…
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