( CNN ) -- `` It was like taking a big leap of faith . '' That 's how Regina Agyare describes her decision back in 2012 to leave her well-paid job at a major international bank in Ghana 's capital Accra to follow her dream and embark on her own entrepreneurial journey . Having worked for six years as the bank 's only female IT specialist , Agyare quit everything to create Soronko Solutions , a software development company . `` My friends thought I was crazy , '' recalls Agyare . `` But I was like , 'this is it ! ' '' One of Ghana 's first female tech entrepreneurs , Agyare had to overcome many challenges in starting her business -- beginning with breaking the gender barrier in her country . `` As an African woman , the role is you go to school , you get a job , you marry , '' says Agyare , whose startup is now building corporate websites and e-commerce portals for more than 30 businesses in Accra . `` Entrepreneurship is not something that you are taught so I never saw myself as an entrepreneur . '' Last summer , out of a passion to pass on her expertise , Agyare co-founded `` Tech Needs Girls , '' a mentorship and educational initiative aiming to encourage young women to pursue a career in technology . Along with other female computer scientists , she makes time to visit places like Nima , a slum right in the heart of Accra , to teach girls how to code and develop mobile and web applications . CNN 's African Start-Up caught up with Agyare to talk about her initiative and discuss the reasons why there should be more women in technology . Here 's what she said . Improving technical innovation : `` Currently we are missing out on valuable perspectives that 50 % of the population can bring to designing the technology of the future . Research shows that diversity improves problem solving , productivity , innovation and ultimately the bottom line -- we need the female perspective in technology . '' Reducing social inequalities : `` Computing jobs are among the fastest growing and the highest paying , yet few women are benefiting from these occupations . This trend increases social inequalities and barriers to girls ' future life opportunities . Girls need to have technology skills in order to thrive in the 21st century as more than 95 % of all jobs have a digital component . '' Teaching girls leadership skills and critical thinking : `` By learning to create technology girls learn to speak up since they have to explain their work ; they must stand tall in order to be taken seriously in this male-dominated field . The process of writing software is essentially solving a problem using critical thinking and a series of steps . The girls also get to express their creativity through their software designs . '' Stopping the workforce exit : `` More than half ( 56 % ) of women in technology leave their employers at the mid-level point in their careers ( 10-20 years ) . Some describe themselves as lone wolves . Personally I found technology to be very lonely since I was always the only female in the IT department . '' The numbers say it all : `` In the United States , women hold less than 25 % of science , technology , engineering and math ( STEM ) jobs . In the UK , women now make up 46 % of the country 's workforce , but hold only 15.5 % of the STEM jobs -- this excludes medicine , which has a high representation of women . Each year the number of women studying and pursuing careers in technology goes down by 0.5 % thus by 2043 at the current trend less than 1 % of the global tech workforce will be female . '' READ THIS : 15 African startups to watch . READ THIS : Africa 's techies hop aboard the StartupBus .
Regina Agyare is a leading technology entrepreneur from Ghana . Her startup , Soronko Solutions , creates websites and e-commerce portals . Agyare has also started an initiative teaching young girls in poor areas how to code . Here , she discusses why there should be more women working in tech .