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In technology, men outnumber women by a wide margin. Ethel Cofie decided to change that. This Ethel Cofie biography follows a Ghanaian engineer who left a comfortable life in London. She returned home to start a software company and then built the largest women-in-tech network in Africa. Her story shows how a business founder can also build a movement. This article covers her education, career, companies and achievements.
Who Is Ethel Cofie?
Ethel Delali Cofie is a Ghanaian technology entrepreneur and IT consultant. She is the founder and chief executive of EDEL Technology Consulting. The firm provides IT consulting and digital products in West Africa and Europe. She also founded Women in Tech Africa, a pan-African organisation that supports women in technology. She sits on the boards of several companies across Africa, including Egotickets.
Ethel Cofie’s Education
Cofie earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Valley View University in Ghana. She then completed a master’s degree in Distribution Systems at the University of Brighton in the United Kingdom. She later studied leadership, business and entrepreneurship at the Yale School of Management. Ethel Cofie attended Yale as a Mandela Washington Fellow.
Her education blends technology and logistics. Distribution systems teach people how goods and information move through networks. That training suits an IT consultant who designs systems for business clients.
Early Career in Technology
Cofie worked as a sales representative for IT solutions at Vodafone in Ghana. She later held technology and commercial roles in the United Kingdom, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Those jobs gave her experience in several markets. She learned how clients buy technology and what they expect from vendors.
She eventually lived a comfortable life in London with a well-paid job, but chose to leave it behind.
Returning to Ghana to Found EDEL
After a few years, Cofie returned to Ghana. She wanted to build her own software business. She took on small jobs and completed many projects. Her first attempt did not satisfy her, so she restarted the company with a clearer plan.
She calls the second version of EDEL Technology Consulting the one that worked. It grew to serve clients in Ghana and the United Kingdom. The company offers IT consulting and builds digital products. Industry judges named it IT Consulting Firm of the Year at the Ghana IT and Telecom Awards.
The Gender Gap That Inspired Her
Cofie noticed a stark imbalance in the industry. She says four times more men than women work in technology. That gap shaped her next project. She wanted to encourage women to start companies and use technology to grow them.
She also wanted young African girls to meet women who already work in the field. Role models, she believes, make careers in technology feel possible.
Founding Women in Tech Africa
Cofie started Women in Tech Ghana first. She says she wanted to create a girls’ club. Business deals often happen on golf courses and over drinks. She wanted women in technology to have a space of their own. There they could support each other and do well.
In 2016, the group grew into Women in Tech Africa. It now has members in more than 30 African countries and in the diaspora. The organisation runs conferences, meetups and hackathons. It also hosts Women in Tech Week, a global event.
Programmes and Partnerships
Women in Tech Africa has built partnerships that reach beyond networking. In 2017, it worked with the MTN Foundation on the MTN Girl Code project. The project taught coding to girls. In 2018, it partnered with a European agricultural cooperation body to bring more women into agricultural technology.
That year, the organisation also won the United Nations Equals Award for Leadership. The award recognises work that closes the digital gender gap.
Awards and Recognition
Cofie’s own honours span several fields. In 2014, the United Nations shortlisted her for its GEM Tech Award. The award recognises people who support women in information and communications technology. In 2016, she earned a place among the top five women influencing technology in Africa. A list of Ghana’s most outstanding women entrepreneurs has also named her. In 2020, she won a Glitz Africa Ghana Women award.
International media have featured her work. CNN and the BBC have both covered her efforts to bring more women into technology.
Board Roles and Advisory Work
Cofie serves on company boards across Africa. They include Egotickets, an events ticketing business, and AMOSS Holdings SA. Board work lets her influence strategy at companies beyond her own. It also puts a technology voice in rooms where decisions about growth and risk take place.
She speaks often at conferences on technology, innovation and emerging markets. She also advises organisations that want to include more women in their technology teams.
Her View of Women in Technology
Cofie’s passions are female leadership, technology and entrepreneurship. She wants to see women lead in technology. She argues that more women in the field bring new ideas, wider markets and stronger teams.
Ethel Cofie also stresses practical steps. Women need networks, mentors and chances to show their skills. Events and hackathons give them those chances.
Why Ethel Cofie Draws Attention
Her profile blends business and advocacy. She built a successful IT firm and led a movement for women in technology. Few founders do both. Readers who search for an Ethel Cofie biography want to understand how she built her career and what her work means for women in African technology.
What Her Career Teaches
Three lessons stand out. First, a restart is not a failure. Cofie rebuilt EDEL after her first attempt fell short, and the second version thrived. Second, community multiplies influence. Women in Tech Africa gave her reach far beyond one company. Third, return and build locally. She left a secure job in London to create opportunity in Ghana, and her company now serves clients abroad.
