Disability Doesn’t Mean Disadvantage

Disability doesn’t mean disadvantage. And Farida Nana Efua Bedwei a celebrated Ghanaian software engineer is proof of that. She is also Co-founder of Logiciel, a fin-tech company in Ghana.

Early Life

Farida Bedwei was born on April 6, 1979 in Lagos, Nigeria. She primarily lived in the UK, Dominica, and Grenada due to the nature of her father’s job. Eventually, she settled together with the Family at age 9 in Ghana. At the age of one, she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is an incurable neurological disorder that affects body movement and muscle coordination but does not interfere with the ability to learn.

Education

Farida Bedweim was home-schooled when she settled in Ghana until the age of 12. Her parents at the tender age of 15 noticed her early passion for computers. Due to this, they decided to enrol her in a one-year computer course at the St. Michael Information Technology Centre, Accra. “I’m sure most of my classmates were wondering what I was doing with them. And that is how I started my career as a software engineer. Through that course I realized what aspect of Information Technology I was going to specialize in. I loved the idea of solving problems and creating things,” she says. She later obtained a one-year degree in Computer Science from the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom (from 2004 to 2005). Farida further acquired a certificate in Project Management in 2009 from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

Career

Farida Bedwei firstly began her career as a software developer at Soft Company Ltd, Accra (now knownas the Softtribe). She later moved from there to Rancard Solutions Ltd, where she progressed from the position of Solutions Analyst to Senior Software Architect from 2001 to 2010. In 2010, the Ghanaian Software Engineer moved to G-Life Micro-finance where she was responsible for designing and implementing new products and services. In April 2011, she left to set up her own company, Logiciel Ltd, Accra, Ghana, where she is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. At Logiciel Ltd, she led in the creation and successful implementation of gKudi, a web-based (cloud) banking software suite for the micro-finance industry.