African Women in Energy and Power (AWEaP)
African Women in Energy and Power (AWEaP) initiative. A programme designed to accelerate African women entrepreneurs’ participation in the Power and Energy sector.
AWEaP is premisedon the conviction that to eradicate energy poverty on the African continent, Africa needs commercially viable, multi-stakeholder driven initiatives that will ensure the meaningful economic participation of women.
Women have a powerful legacy of navigating the African business terrain with its complex challenges; they have successfully operated sustainable informal enterprises. These should be supportedand scaled-up to create businesses of meaningful scale within the formal sector.
Their track record for cross-border trade has proved that they are both courageous and innovative in finding solutions to address local socio-economic challenges.
Access to electricity presents a huge challenge for the African continent; it also presents an unparalleled opportunity for transformative change for women.
AWEaP provides the platform for multiple stakeholders to collaborate to achievethe following SDGs:
- SDG 5: Gender Equality
- SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
- SDG 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
Energy poverty has a gender bias. Women constitute a considerable part of the 600 million people without access to clean energy. Through a collaborative effort, men and women in Africa can work together to create an inclusive Energy and Power sector where all stakeholders benefit.
In addition to the responsibility for energy management within their household, the responsibility for investing in their children’s’ education falls squarely on their shoulders, as does the responsibility for taking care for the sick and elderly. It is these women who will drive innovation and create solutions to address access to clean energy.
AWEaP aims
to collaborate with multiple stakeholders to build tools that will achieve the following:
- Accelerate women entrepreneurs’ participation in the Energy Power sector
- Enable access to market
- Remove barriers for financing
- Promote and secure cross-bordertrading
- Provide credible market information
- Create platforms for networking and coaching.
AWEaP is one of 3 initiatives created to support women and youth participation in the energy and power sector on the continent.

Africa faces
huge electricity demand challenge; an estimated that 600 million people remain without electricity.
Imagine what other opportunities exists as a result of Energy’s intersection with: Health, Water, Agriculture, Transport, Education, Housing, and Smart Cities, which women and youth are not aware off. Through this initiative we can reveal these and empower women and youth to thrive in the sector with innovative fit for purpose solutions for Africa

Utilities are preparing for a digital future and to meet growing demand:
- Adopting automation across the entire value chain
- Tapping into the Internet of Things (IoT)
- Machine-to-Machine (M2M) or Cloud Computing
- Data analytics – dealing with unprecedented quantities and complexities of data
- Business application modernisation
- Driven by new regulations, market structures, and renewable energy sources, the smart grid is changing the way electricity is generated, distributed, managed, and consumed; creating new value chains and ecosystems
- IoT technology can give utilities more control over operations and enable them to improve upon what already exists by upgrading power quality and security
- Smart Grid: will be driven largely by the Internet of Things in action
It is clear that there are plenty of opportunities for women to learn about, organise themselves and participate meaning fully in the energy sector. This requires multiple stakeholders to work together to support interested and capable women entrepreneurs.
AWEaP aims
to support 500 women entrepreneurs
in Energy and Power from 22 markets in the continent by 2023 by:
- Enrolling 100 women entrepreneurs annually, from 22 African markets, onto a vocational accelerator entrepreneurship course for Energy and Power in Africa. As part of the accelerator, detailed assessments of their business and financial needs will be undertaken,and they will be pairedwith the relevant financing instruments in their market and beyond.
- Creating a network of coaches for sustained growth support.
- Creating an online directory that will showcase women entrepreneurs in Energy and Power in Africa, including recording and publicising innovation for electricity in Africa by Africans.
- Showcasing their services, solutions and products at an annual international event
Our Journey to an inclusive Energy Industry
AWEaP's pillars:
In country mobilisation events
- aimed at providing credible information to empower African women to participate in the energy and power sectors.
Entrepreneurial Accelerator
- a tailored programme that will empower African women with the requisite skills and knowledge of the energy and power sectors in the continent, enabling them to operate successful enterprises capable of competing successfully within the sectors.
Online Directory
- to showcase innovation by African women for the energy and power sectors, and leading entrepreneurs in the sector.
International Conference Exhibition Pavilions
- to showcase African women founder entrepreneurs in the energy and power sector in 22 countries in Southern Africa, East Africa and select markets in West Africa;
AWEaP Conference (Every Second Year)
- every second year we will host a two day conference showcasing women entrepreneurs and youth in energy on the continent.
