Maryam Gwadabe

Maryam Gwadabe is a distinguished member of the recently announced Forbes Africa’s 30 Under 30 2020 achievers list.

Typically dressed in a veil and abaya, an attire mostly worn by women in the northern part of Nigeria, Maryam Gwadabe is an exceptional tech professional.

Maryam Gwadabe holds a B.Sc in Computer Software Engineering from Coventry University, UK, and a Masters degree in Computer Network Management from Middlesex University, UK.

Maryam is the founder of Blue Sapphire Hub. The hub is located in the heart of Kano state, Nigeria.

Blue Sapphire Hub supports businesses pursuing IT strategies and individuals aspiring to go into technology-oriented businesses through technological entrepreneurship and business incubation. They are offered mentorship and consultancy services to enable their ideas from inception to completion.

The journey to Blue Sapphire Hub started when she enrolled for a code learning program. On completing the program, she tutored and mentored some of her close associates and the idea behind the Hub was formed. With a capital investment of NGN150,000, she bought some training materials, developed a curriculum and started facilitating the training of basic & advanced ICT skills from her living room.

After a year, in 2014, her students exceeded her expectations and her packed living room showed she was doing something right. Seeing the growth, her father supported her to set up the Hub.

Since then, Blue Sapphire Hub has stayed true to its goal of providing quality ICT education, supporting innovation and enabling creativity among students to build successful ICT careers and grow their businesses.

Maryam Gwadabe is not just an advocate of bridging the digital gender divide, she is also putting in the work to make it happen. Over 5,000 women have been trained by Maryam, and more than 20 businesses have received business development support from her.

Each year, she hosts different forums such as ‘Hour of Code’, a forum designed for children to learn to code, ‘ICT Solutions for her’ and the ‘System Trix Seminar’ where the latest tech tips, tricks and trends are discussed.

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“What is more fulfilling than this; impacting the lives of women and seeing the returns? I have been advocating bridging the digital gender divide for the past five years and now a lot of women are into technology in Nigeria, because of the impact of my work,” she stated.

Next year, she plans to open another hub in Abuja and extend Blue Sapphire Hub’s reach to other African countries such as Niger, Chad, the Gambia and Cameroon.

We celebrate Maryam for her contribution to human development and capacity building. We are inspired.