Ahmed Balqees is a 19-year-old student at Highland College of Tech, studying computer software engineering. Her journey into tech began in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic when she joined a four-day boot camp by She Codes Africa, igniting her passion for technology. Since then, she has pursued further education at ALT School Africa and has worked on various innovative projects. Balqees shares her aspirations for the future, and her thoughts on the challenges and opportunities for young Nigerians in the tech industry. Excerpts…
Can we know you?
My name is Ahmed Balqees. I am a 19-year-old girl, a student of computer software engineering at Highland College of Tech, and I also do some freelance work in product management. I participated in the Technovation Girls competition last year, but we didn’t make it to the finals; we got dropped at the regional levels. My hobbies are reading, listening to music, and doing research. I also write poems.
Can you tell us about your academic journey?
When I finished secondary school in 2021, it was after the COVID-19 pandemic. That was when I got involved in tech because during the pandemic, She Codes Africa held a four-day boot camp. So I had to join. I got the knowledge through my sister, then I got interested in what tech was, and I just wanted to explore. After the pandemic, I decided to join ALT School Africa in 2022, and they had product management available. So I did my research, figured out what product management was about, and felt okay, yeah, I could join. So I did join them, and then I finished with them. I have my national diploma degree, but in the course of doing product management, my dad didn’t want me to just stay at home, so he made me enroll at Highland College of Education, where I am presently studying software engineering.
As a young person, is there anything in tech that actually fascinates you that you just love about tech?
Yes, I love the fact that tech is ever-evolving. New things always pop up, like every two or three months something new always finds a way to pop up, whether it’s AI or Web 3, or we’ll just suddenly find something new to read about.
Now, as a Nigerian, if you are given a chance, what are the problems Nigeria is facing as a country that you think you can solve with technology?
There’s actually a lot technology can do with infrastructure when it comes to Nigeria. I feel like half of the time we lack infrastructure, and most of the time, especially electricity, the national grid collapses for weeks.
In education, we could have an LMS system. I figured that the LMS system actually helps a lot with classes you could take and retake. For busy people, most students nowadays have one or two jobs while still studying. So if we could implement something like the LMS system, though there might be disadvantages, it will help increase focus, and students will always be able to go back to what they’ve been taught.
Also in the area of e-commerce and payment structure, there are a lot to be done. The use of smart contracts in salary payment will definitely make things easier.
What do you think about the Japa Syndrome? People running to other countries to find a better life?
The whole Japa Syndrome thing is most people actually feel like they can’t do better with the situation of the economy; people struggle to do better. Everybody’s struggling to do better. But I feel like if we all leave, there’ll be practically nobody to actually make changes. For now, if I got the chance, I might leave if I get a better offer, but then if we all decide to leave, there’ll be zero to no changes. If we all just keep staying there, there’ll be nobody here to make those changes that we want. So I think it would be better if we try to take a better look at things and decide that maybe we don’t always have to leave. Maybe leaving is not the solution. We just need to put more effort into our work and also try to make changes ourselves.
Do you think young people are given a chance to actually explore in Nigeria?
Not really. I mean, there are very few organizations that do not think of the older ones first. So I was in the Technovation competition; it was an all-girls international competition that we held, and then I saw kids of around 7-9 coming up with massive ideas, and then those ideas were too massive, and then their presentation about it was so sweet, and like it was making sense, but if they had not made them more inclusive, we wouldn’t see that.
When it comes to age, they tend to pick on the older ones first before they look at the younger ones, and that’s exactly how it is, both in the government policy work and everything. I’ve tried applying for some jobs, and then you probably see like internships, and then you’re looking at this, you have age factors, right? And this factor is like 20-something, 30-something. So I find it weird that you would want to take age over your ability or your experience.
Can you tell us about a project you are working on or one you’ve worked on before and the problems you’re trying to solve?
Last year, my Technovation Project was basically a skincare app. It was around skin cancer awareness, and we decided to create an app that uses AI to scan your face or any other part of your body, and it will tell you what type of skin you have, how to take care of it, and then we also tried to link you up with a dermatologist. We met with two or three dermatologists, and they gave us skin grades, skin cancer groups, cures, and treatments for them.
Presently, I’m working on an app for hospitals, so you could actually check your BP. Most people can actually use it privately or in hospitals. People can actually use the app to take their self-test at home, so you can actually check your BP, check your heart rate, and also check the amount of water you need in a day. It’s kind of like an app for exercise and body shape.
What should we be expecting from you in the next 5 years?
In the next five years, I should be a pro at both computer software engineering and product management. I should be a huge name when it comes to content creation. I want something like that for myself, and above all, I want to be a huge name that people look up to and come to for help. I just really want that for myself.
How many programming languages do you know?
Presently, I’d say four: JavaScript, Python, Flutter, and I’ve been trying my hands on Java recently.
Which one was challenging?
I’d say JavaScript. I started JavaScript with JavaFX because while setting the program, I had lots of bugs, and I just had to reach out to some of my friends and get help, but it wasn’t really easy like Flutter or Python.
Do you belong to any tech community where you seek help?
Yes, and it has been helpful because apart from belonging to tech communities, I’m also a student ambassador for my school for both Cowrywise and Atlassian, and also a community manager for a tech and entrepreneur group that I co-founded with my friends. So I’d say all I just wanted was a community where everybody can reach out to each other, ask for help, and get solutions.
What advice do you have for parents and kids?
To parents, my mom wasn’t open to me sitting at the computer for hours, but my sister is a software engineer. She wasn’t really agreeing with her just sitting at the computer for hours and all of that. But then when I started, she had already understood what it was like, so I didn’t really have problems.
But most of my friends just talked about their parents having issues with them. So I think parents have to be more understanding and open to their kids. They should be actively involved in their lives. That’s one of the things that I love my dad for; he’s always actively involved in whatever it is that we tell him we’re doing. So being actively involved actually prompts me, it pushes me to do better. And I figured that some of my friends actually said the same thing: when your parents are involved, you want to push yourself and just do better.
Then to kids, first, I’d say don’t overwork yourself. Don’t push your limits too far. I’ve had breakdowns, and they’ve not been sweet and everything.
Second, I’d say whatever it is they put their mind to, they should also ensure that they focus on it. Just put your mind on something and ensure that you go with it. Basically, be actively involved in whatever you want to do.
