Networking, Financing support, key to women’s inclusion in energy sector

Some female leaders have advocated for networking, more funding, capacity building, cultural reorientation, and mentoring to deepen women’swomen’s inclusion in Nigeria’s energy sector and transition plan.

At an event on Thursday, in Lagos, with the theme: Women in Energy Dialogue, these leaders emphasised the importance of fostering robust networks that bring together women professionals, industry experts, policymakers, and investors in the energy sector.

Despite making up about 39 percent of the global labour force, women only account for 16 percent of the traditional energy sector. In the renewable sector, women hold about 22 percent of jobs.

Ibiene Okeleke, managing director of the Energy Training Center, called for more women in leadership, networking, support, and financing to be included in the energy sector.

“Women need a lot of support to play in the sector in terms of leadership, networking, and financing. We need to look at how women can be supported in the five key sectors of Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan (ETP),” she said.

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The ETP seeks to reach net-zero emissions in the nation’s energy consumption by 2060, cutting emissions across five key sectors: power, cooking, oil and gas, transport, and industry.

For Adedoyin Pearse, Ventures Lead, Africa, Siemens Energy, the underrepresentation of women in the energy sector is not just an African problem but also a global one.

We see many opportunities in the global energy transition, and women should be brought into the industry, she said.

“There is more awareness about raising women in organisations, but women need to be better networkers. There are a lot of opportunities, financing is everywhere, but it is about how to access this information,” she said.

Sarah Ogbewey, Head, of Strategic Partnerships, Renewable Energy and Mobility, Sterling Bank, added that women need to acquire hard and soft skills to get more involved in the energy sector.

According to Pearse, hard skills, soft skills, and networking is important for women to participate in the energy sector. In terms of hard skills, financial and presentation skills are very important to participate in the energy sector.