Nisha follows her Instincts

Portrait of an attractive African American business woman smiling confidently

My name is Nisha Maharaj, MD of Niche Integrated Solutions- South Africa. I have an accumulated service record of 20 years within the Banking, Financial services and Telecommunications sectors of which more than 14 years have been served at either Senior or Executive Management level. In addition, I am a specialist in unsecured lending (microfinance). After having spent decades in financial services, I decided to embark on my own entrepreneurial journey in business.

Whilst exploring my options, I stumbled into the world of business in technology. All my consulting assignments led to problems around operational efficiencies which only technology could solve. In the space of the commercial and financial services arena in South Africa, we do not have very robust home grown technologies so I researched the globe to find solutions that could bring value to South Africa.

I was very fortunate to have cultivated partnerships with some of the global leaders in technology, to bring these solutions to my country. We have made headlines since my first year of operation having won two major bids with two South African banks, I saw success instantly with technology. Not only am I happy that I Decided to follow my instincts, I am also making a significant difference to the South African financial services arena, and our customers are satisfied. Technology has the potential to make your dreams come true –it changes the past, present and future

Author BIO

Nisha Maharaj(South Africa) CEO of NICHE INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS-SOUTH AFRICA

ITU-UNWOMEN launch the Gender Equality and Mainstreaming Technology Awards (GEM-TECH Awards 2014)

Women’s digital empowerment and their full participation in the information society is a key objective of UN Women and ITU. UN Women has prioritized this within all aspects of its work and the ITU Council at its 2013 session, adopted the ITU Gender Equality and Mainstreaming Policy (GEM). Realizing these goals within the development context presents many opportunities as well as challenges. While the potential is great and there are many examples of progress, there are also gaps and a need for increased attention, visibility, understanding, investment and action.

This annual award seeks to create a platform for advancing women’s meaningful engagement with ICTs and their role as decision-makers and producers within this sector. In considering “gender equality mainstreaming” we are looking not only at ICT, government and development actors that are mainstreaming gender equality perspectives within their work, but also ICT and gender advocates that are seeking to “mainstream” gender equality into a larger context.

Objective

The ITU-UN Women GEM-TECH Award will demonstrate a commitment to advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment through ICTs.

Format

Open call to all Stakeholders working in the ICT Landscape.

Propose a Nominee