NGO Appoints Edo Teenager As Young Ambassador

A non-profit organisation championing the inclusion of women and girls in rural and underserved African communities in the digital economy, Tech Herfrica, has appointed a young female Nigerian, Ekighawogho Benson-Osagie, who hails from Obozogbe-Niro village in Orhionmwon local government area of Edo State, as its first Tech Ambassador.

Benson-Osagie is a 17-year-old who despite her humble background, leveraged technology to learn, get international jobs, build a solid financial system, and now has a follower base of over 10,000 individuals on LinkedIn.

She has always had a passion for writing but before 2021, she was unaware of the opportunities available to her in the digital economy. All she saw were young people hopping on dance challenges on TikTok and Instagram.

As much as she craved fame, Benson-Osagie was unable to follow that train.

In 2021, Benson-Osagie discovered Upwork and how writers could get paid up to or even more than $20 per hour to write high-quality content for brands, and this sparked her curiosity to learn and earn.

Determined not to depend solely on her parents when she entered the university and built her writing skills.

She bought an e-book on leveraging Upwork and landed her first job. With the money she earned, she bought a premium freelancing course that improved her content writing skills and showed her how to leverage various platforms as a freelancer, one of which was LinkedIn.

She has since leveraged the LinkedIn platform to seal major business deals.

At the virtual unveiling of Benson-Osagie’s Tech Ambassadorship role with Tech Herfrica, the director of strategy and communications at Tech Herfrica, Esohe Ekunwe, said her appointment was the first step towards the launch of Tech Herfrica’s “Digital Literacy for All” campaign, which is targeted at equipping pupils in public schools in underserved communities in Africa with the knowledge they need to leverage technology for social inclusion and economic empowerment.

Esohe said Benson-Osagie was a representation of what Tech Herfrica seeks to achieve, which is digital inclusion for economic empowerment for females in rural and underserved African communities.

As a Tech Ambassador for Tech Herfrica, Benson-Osagie will be leading the Digital Literacy for All campaign in her region while also contributing to the conversation across Africa. Through her work with Tech Herfrica, she aims to show young people the infinite economic opportunities available online.