Elekanyani believes that access to energy and the development of functional infrastructure is at the core of Africa’s economic emancipation.
Her experience in the energy sector includes power and petro-chemical, working on large scale infrastructure projects, refurbishment projects and green field renewable energy projects. It also includes project engineering, project management, project finance and business development with a power generation background.
Her knowledge of the infrastructure landscape is enriched by her practical experience of working throughout the phases of a project life cycle, from inception through to commissioning. Her leadership experience is enhanced by her various leadership roles, including the director looking after the energy market across the African continent for a global engineering and infrastructure advisory consulting company. Her other roles include head of engineering and project management and electrical engineering centre of excellence manager. She has worked with multicultural, multinational and multidiscipline teams involved in project finance structures and in project engineering.
Elekanyani graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cape Town. She is professionally registered (Pr. Eng.) with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). She is also a Member of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (MSAIEE).
In 2015, SAIEE awarded her the Keith Plowden Young Achiever of the year to recognise her leadership, achievement, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and enthusiasm.
As an experienced director, she is registered with the Institute of Directors Southern Africa (IoDSA). She has held and continues to hold non-executive director roles in technical infrastructure and financial entities. Her board roles include chairperson of Investment Committee, chairperson of Social and Ethics Committee, member of Audit and Risk Committee and member of Human Resources & Remunerations Committee.
She believes in enlightened self-interest which states that a person who acts to further the interest of others, ultimately serve their own self-interest, this is the principle on which she co-founded Phato Investment Cooperative, an economic instrument for amalgamating the collective economic interests of its members.
To contribute to the engineering fraternity, she serves as an ECSA Electrical Reviewer and Moderator and from time to time, she works with the University of Johannesburg and has co-supervised research final year students. She is part of the Women Advancing Africa Movement of the Graca Machel Trust.
She has a high interest in transformational speaking, facilitation, teaching and coaching. She is an obsessive reader and a lover of food and travel and she is married with 2 children.