Women in Kigali have access to the strongest concentration of tech resources in Rwanda: SheCanCODE and WeCode for free training, kLab for co-working and mentorship, Norrsken House for networking, and the majority of tech companies that are hiring. To break into tech from Kigali: apply to SheCanCODE and WeCode immediately, start learning online while waiting, show up at kLab and tech events consistently, build a portfolio of projects with MoMo integration, and network with the people who are hiring. The in-person access Kigali provides is a real advantage over learning remotely from other parts of Rwanda.
If you are a woman in Kigali who wants to enter tech, you are in the best possible location in Rwanda. This is not hype. It is geography. Almost everything is here:
Women outside Kigali can learn to code online, but you have something they do not: the ability to walk into kLab on a Tuesday afternoon, meet a mentor face-to-face, attend a SheCanCODE info session, and network at a Norrsken House event, all in the same week. Use this advantage deliberately.
Month 1: Set up your foundation.
Months 2 to 4: Learn the fundamentals.
Months 5 to 8: Build your portfolio.
Months 9 to 12: Land your first role.
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You will encounter bias. Some of it will be explicit (someone telling you coding is not for women). More of it will be subtle (being overlooked in technical discussions, having your contributions attributed to a male teammate, receiving unsolicited comments about your appearance instead of your code). Here is how to handle it practically.
Let your work speak. A deployed project with working MoMo integration does not care about your gender. When someone questions whether you belong, a portfolio of functioning applications is the most effective response. Build things, deploy them, and share them publicly.
Find allies, not just women-only spaces. Women-only communities are valuable for support, but your career will involve working with men. Find male mentors, colleagues, and managers who respect your skills and advocate for you. They exist in Kigali's tech scene. Seek them out.
Do not internalize skepticism. If someone suggests you are not technical enough or implies the work is too difficult for you, that is their bias, not your limitation. The thousands of women working as developers across Africa and around the world are proof enough that gender has nothing to do with coding ability.
Report genuinely hostile behavior. If you experience harassment at a tech space, event, or workplace, report it. kLab, Norrsken House, and professional organizations have codes of conduct. You should not tolerate abuse in the name of "breaking into" an industry.
Track your progress. Keep a log of what you learn and build each week. On days when imposter syndrome hits hard, reviewing your log reminds you how far you have come. The evidence matters more than the feeling.
The most common thing women say before starting: "I will start learning to code when I feel ready." The problem is that the feeling of readiness never arrives. Confidence does not come before action. It comes after.
You build confidence by doing things before you feel qualified to do them:
Each of these feels uncomfortable in the moment. Each one builds confidence for the next step. The women who break into tech are not the ones who waited until they felt ready. They are the ones who started while still feeling uncertain.
A practical tip: set a "discomfort goal" each week. One thing that makes you nervous. Attend a meetup alone. Ask a question during a workshop. Share a project publicly on Twitter/X. The discomfort shrinks with repetition.
If you want a structured starting point that removes the uncertainty of "what to learn first," McTaba's Tech Foundations (approximately RWF 30,000) gives you a clear sequence to follow. Having a defined path reduces the overwhelm that stalls many beginners.
Create a free McTaba Academy account. Access starter lessons, join the community, and explore at your own pace.
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