Zainab Saidu Idris is a dynamic tech innovator and community leader passionate about bridging the gap between global technology advancements and local communities.
As the Creative Director of the Creativity Enthusiast Network, Zainab channels her expertise into making complex tech concepts accessible to Hausa-speaking audiences, embodying her brand’s slogan: Local Voice, Global Impact.
In addition to her creative work, Zainab is deeply involved in community development. She serves as the Assistant Program Manager at Data Science Nigeria and leads multiple initiatives, including Google Women Techmakers.
Zainab Saidu Idris shared with Today Africa about her entrepreneurial journey.
Could you please tell us who Zainab Saidu Idris is?
My name is Zainab Saidu Idris. I am a graduate of Software Engineering for my advanced diploma and for my BSc I studied Information Technology. Currently, I serve as the assistant program manager with Data Science Nigeria.
I lead a community for Google Women Techmakers and also my baby organization that I founded almost two years ago, which is Creativity Enthusiasts, where we specialize in localizing or should I say, localize content for our communities in order to bridge the gap that we have between the global audience and also the local communities.
Tell me more about the Creativity Enthusiasts Network and what it is all about?
It’s a network, or should I say, an organization that actually specializes in localizing content in Hausa language. Content can be tech content. Our major focus right now is actually into tech content.
And we deliver such through the digital space that we have, or we have easy access to. So currently we have a community whereby we actually nurture this community and we try to educate them on how things work in digital space in the local language, which they are more conversant with and they are more comfortable with.
We have an online presence with over 100,000 people in it. And then we actually try as much as possible to engage ourselves in webinars, in events, and also to build collaboration and partnership with other organizations.
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What inspired you into localizing tech terms for people to understand it in their local language?
What actually inspired me was the people around me. I notice whenever I speak about something that I feel everyone should know about, or maybe people should be vigilant about. I tend to find people that don’t even know that actually exist.
So at the beginning of my journey, when I started my entire journey into tech, I noticed that the school I went to, we were just two girls in my class. And then not just two girls, but we just have less facilitators that actually understand our language.
So coming from that background, I noticed that this is actually a very big barrier for us. Because people around us, sometimes if there’s something that they need to be alert of, let’s say in terms of security, or something that they should be aware of, they tend not to know anything that is happening regarding that.
And then they can fall victims of maybe some kind of cyber attacks or even cyber bullying or anything related to cyberspace. So this is actually my Why, seeing that people are actually not so literate about what is happening in digital space.
So why not localize this? Let them understand what is happening in the language that they are conversant with and they are very much comfortable with. So this is the reason why I started Creativity Enthusiast.
What were the challenges that you faced in the beginning and how did you overcome them?
My biggest challenge at the earlier start of this was actually in terms of translation. These terminologies in tech are very hard even for an English-speaking person to understand. So to translate it down to Hausa, that’s another challenge for me.
The translation was actually a very big challenge for me. But moving on, I started engaging myself with books and also reaching out to people that are actually into translation and localization to actually guide me on how I can make some of these terms easy for our people to understand and also relate to.
And then we also have accessibility, internet issues, especially when we want to conduct a webinar session. There’s usually this internet issue or lack of access to computers, especially those that live in remote areas.
Also supports which is something that we actually tend to look out for from organization, private, public organization, also the government. But as we move on, we tend to do away with all this translation by building so much collaboration and partnership with organizations that are very close to us.
Is there a book where all these translations are documented?
In Hausa, we also have kamus. Kamus is a dictionary for Hausa. I have a copy of it where I tend to look out for some of these words. And beside that, I also have Google at my fingertips where I can actually easily search for these words and then get the meaning of them.
Did you raise any funds while starting your business?
When I started, I actually required less funding because I have a good social media presence. So I utilize the audience that I have on my social media rather than the capital. I create videos, I do write-ups and then I share it with my audience.
So you see in that process, you actually require less funding to actually conduct such an operation. I did not need much funding when I started but I have started to have an understanding of the entire journey and what it needs and the expansion that it requires.
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Outside social media, what strategy have you used to attract people to see the work that you are doing?
One of the strategies I use outside the social media space is actually attending events, physical engagement with people. When I attend events, I ensure that I connect with the organizers, some of the speakers and also tell them what I do. And how I can make contributions, it can be a voluntary contribution into the organization.
Mind you, the kind of event that I attend, it has to be in line with what we do at Creativity Enthusiast. So this is actually a way we can connect with people that are actually interested in what we do. And from there, we start building it from there.
You are a mentor with the Google Women Techmakers. So tell me more about that and what has been the impact on women in the North?
The entire Google Women Techmakers journey actually started from me attending an event. I love to attend the event because this is where you build the network and this is where you meet people.
They hosted an event in Kano and I attended with a friend. From there, I picked interest because I noticed that we don’t have something similar to that in Kaduna. So when I returned back to Kaduna, I realized that we need a community like that.
I reached out to the Google Developers Group because we already have that, but we did not have the women technic as yet. The Google Developers Group, that’s GDG, they work hand in hand with women technicus.
So I reached out to the GDG and they were so excited to see a Northern female. A lady interested to lead the community that is not in existence. And from there, they guided me through on how I can apply for it. And luckily I got accepted in 2019.
So that was where the entire journey started. I started with a few people attending my events. Most of the time it’s just family and close friends that usually drag to come and attend the event.
When I started posting about the output of the event on social media, other females started picking interest in it and they started attending the event as well. And currently this is a community that has over 500 women in it and these women have been incubated with so many skills and resources.
They also have a safe community where they can actually discuss what they find so difficult in the tech space. So as an ambassador for Kaduna, my work got so much attention to the global team and they felt like I can actually mentor the ambassadors in Nigeria on how they can actually build their own community and make an impact in their respective states.
I also had to apply to be a mentor and thanks to God, I was able to secure that slot. And from there, I get to interact with ambassadors all over Nigeria, discuss what their problem is, how I can support them, how I can guide them and also share my own experience with them.
Usually it’s experience that actually gives out so much knowledge because you are speaking from things that have happened to you. So if they have been worried about this is my first time starting an event and just 10 people showed up. I feel so sad about it.
You just tell them that at the beginning of the journey, it usually starts like that. You just have a few people that attend your event. But moving on, if you actually hold the momentum, definitely a lot of people are going to attend. So it has been a wonderful journey and I love the experience.
Are these women taught these skills by Google for free?
Google actually gives us access to their online resources, some of their online resources for free. So you know, they have already taught us how to catch the fish. Now it’s all left to us to know how we can utilize the fish. So we get speakers in our communities and we ensure that they are actually experts in their field and they teach our members how they can utilize a particular skill and how they can make some money out of it if possible.
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What are the skills that these women have learned?
Data analysis, digital marketing, cybersecurity, blockchain, content creation, name them. A lot of technical skills and also artificial intelligence, which is the reigning one right now.
What other services do Creativity Enthusiast offer?
We offer consultation. So assuming you have a project that you want to work on and you need some guidance on how we can go about it. This is something that we do. We do one-on-one consultation on how you can go about it. So as a newbie in the tech space or you want to get into the tech space.
And you have no idea which course is suitable for you, or the one that’s going to be in line with what you do. We recommend courses for you. Also we definitely do a lot of mentorship and guidance to ensure that you’re actually on the right path.
Are these consultations paid or free?
We have free consultations and we also have paid one.
How do you build your team and how do you build systems and processes that help in smooth running of the business?
I’m into project management so I understand the corners that it takes to actually manage a team and also manage a project entirely. So at Creativity Enthusiasts, we have people with expertise.
Some are actually good with translation. Someone is good with content strategy. Someone is good with today’s digital space and someone is good with social media. And someone is also good with organizing events.
So we ensure that we give everyone that privilege to actually showcase their talents and also to showcase their creativity because we are all about creativity. We are not going to deprive anyone of that right or that feeling to feel so appreciated or to showcase their talents out there.
So we try as much as possible to give everyone that space to showcase what they have in mind. And if it is in line with what we currently want to do, then of course, move that to the top when it’s not actually in line. We sit down, we table everything and we try to see how we can correct it to actually fit in.
Have the government of Kaduna partnered with you on any project?.
Currently we have not partnered with the government to organize any events. It’s mostly with NGOs and private organizations.
Is it that you have not reached the government or you just want to stay away from them?
I will tell you sincerely, we haven’t reached out to the government yet, but definitely we’ll look into that this year.
What are some key lessons that you have learned in this journey as an entrepreneur?
Patience because you are dealing with so many people. If you have 10 people, then you have 10 problems. So you have to deal with everyone individually with their own way of thinking and their own way of assimilating things.
One of the key things that I’ve learned is patience and also the impact that comes with it at the end of the day. That’s the wonderful feeling that usually comes with it seeing that what you are doing is actually making an impact.
And that impact is just so satisfying for me. So sometimes I even forget the problems or the challenges that I face. But when I think of the future and I think of the impact that I’m targeting, everything just goes the way I want it.
How do you handle failures or delays?
I’ve once witnessed that moment I just felt everything just stopped and nothing was working for me anymore. It was more of a moment of reflection for me. I went back to my drawing board. I had to do a lot of re-learning or learning and also trying to find my “Why”.
Why did I even start this entire thing? What is actually not working? What did I miss? I had that kind of moment and all I had to do was just go back to the drawing board and I was able to find myself through that.
What’s your future plan for your organization?
Just like I said, it’s still a baby organization and we have achieved a lot, especially in the social space. So in the future, I see us having a physical body whereby people can just walk in and learn anything they want to learn in their mother tongue and we make it as conducive as possible for them and easy to understand.
And also we get that global recognition and also see how we can make our mother languages incorporated into education in such a way that students get very conversant with it and get so much comfortability in terms of learning.
Because when I create some of my videos and I post them, let’s say data analysis in Hausa language, I usually get comments like, “so all this while this is the meaning of data analysis and it’s sounding like one oyinbo language that I cannot even understand again”.
But when you actually put these things in languages that people are comfortable with their mother tongue. It’s usually so much easier for them to understand. So I see a future whereby we actually make language a heading body in terms of education and also I see Creativity Enthusiasts channeling that and leading that industry.
What advice would you give to others, especially women who want to start up their business or want to venture into tech?
If you are a lady and you want to start, just start. All those procrastination of thinking whether it is going to work or is it not going to work? If you don’t actually start, you’ll not see the reason why you should actually even start, if it’s going to work or it’s not even going to work.
Do a lot of research, know the market situation of whatever you are going to venture into. And seek consultation from mentors or people that you see that are actually into that field that you are about to get into.
Ask questions and just start with the little that you have. Do not say that I have to have everything before I start. Just start with what you have, start with that comfort. And from there, definitely, things are going to expand. If you put that hard work and dedication into it.
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