24 MAY 2023
Leading Change: Women Entrepreneurs Shaping the Future of Energy in the East African Power Pool
African Union’s celebration of Africa Day on May 25th each year signifies the continent’s unity and diversity. In 2023, the African Union’s theme for Africa Day is “Africa – Opportunities in Challenging Times,” which focuses on the continent’s sustainable leadership and development. In line with this, AWEaP’s webinar showcased women entrepreneurs in energy in East Africa.
AWEaP’s webinar in May showcased phenomenal women and men dedicated to eradicating gender inequality in Eastern Africa Power Pool. This entrepreneur showcase highlighted women in East Africa that are blazing the trail in electrification and access to clean cooking energy for all.
Our approach for our webinars is to to unearth opportunities in the region’s energy value chain, and showcase progress made by women entrepreneurs in the regions Energy and Power sector.
AWEaP’s chairperson in Kenya, Ms Sarah Mwabya gave a detailed presentation on the importance of creating an effective network of key stakeholders committed to supporting women entrepreneurs in energy. She emphasised that effective networks enable women to accessand take advantage of existing and emerging entrepreneurial opportunities available in the market.
We were also delighted to host Stanbic, an award-winning bank in Kenya. The bank showcased their support programmes for women from different demographic profiles.
Their motto: “every woman is bankable”. Their programme Dada, which means sister in Swahili, creates an . an inclusive platform for women to access financial and non-financial services.
Stanbic is committed to playing a pivotal role in women’s holistic development and growth by offering account holders financial benefits such as borrowing, saving, protecting and managing wealth, and non-financial benefits through education, information, networking, rewards, and wellness activities.
They believe that individual well being equals financial wellbeing.
The Eastern African Power Pool presented progress on their projects. It also highlighted its support for women in the region.
The webinar also featured Industry Association Brands and Beyond Ltd, which has dedicated its work to empowering and recognising women entrepreneurs in the energy and power sector.
The highlight of the webinar was testimonies by entrepreneurs from Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Uganda, and a company based in the UK focused solely on development in Africa. Each entrepreneur shared their company’s objectives, entrepreneurial journey, and progress in their respective country.
The webinar aimed to highlight developments in Eastern Africa, funding opportunities and the entrepreneurial opportunities available in the region.
At AWEaP, we collaborate with multiple stakeholders in the energy ecosystem to secure support for women-owned and women-led companies.
Our theme for 2023 is: Together, we can make inclusion in Africa's energy and power sector a competitive edge.
The following stakeholders were invited to share insights on the construct of energy value chains and opportunities emerging as countries endeavour to achieve security of energy supply:
Finance Institutions:
Access to funding is one of the most significant impediments to entry into the energy and power business, particularly for first-time women entrepreneurs. Energy and electricity are crucial to economic development because they capitalise on some of the region’s most significant competitive advantages, assuring enhanced growth, opportunity, and well-being. Development finance institutions, which include development banks, granting agencies, and export credit agencies, play a key role in assisting energy sector expansion and structural transformation. Stanbic spoke about its funding approaches and prospects for female entrepreneurs. In the financial sector, we will have gender specialists primarily concentrating on women’s banking, energy, and infrastructure.
Industry Associations:
Building reciprocal value-adding networks is fundamental to the success of any entrepreneur. Industry Associations serve as a unified voice for individual enterprises within a given industry. This provides opportunities to exchange knowledge, debate issues, build standards, and establish norms for best practices within the energy industry. AWEaP is a non-competitive platform and organisation. We collaborate with other associations to create a supportive and inclusive energy ecosystem.
Women Entrepreneurs’ Testimony:
We invite women-led and owned companies to testify to their real stories and accounts they have experienced in the sector. Through this, we aim to be a vital source of inspiration, support, and empowerment for potential women entrepreneurs. The testimony aims to cover personal experiences, issues, successes, and lessons acquired through these testimonies. These experiences highlight the unique viewpoints, cutting-edge concepts, and essential insights that women bring to the business world, demonstrating their tenacity, resolve, and capacity to surmount obstacles in the pursuit of their entrepreneurial aspirations Programme and presentations
Programme | Content Framework | Webinar 5 | Speaker |
Introduction | Introduction to AWEaP | AWEaP | MS. BERTHA DLAMINI |
Women in Kenya | Opportunities for Women entrepreneurs | AWEaP Chairperson: Kenya | MS. SARAH MBWAY |
OEM | Access to Technology | Rockwell Automation | MS. MARIA OPPAB |
Finance | Access to Finance | Stanbic Bank Kenya | MS. ROSE KAMENE GICHUKI |
Stanbic Bank Kenya | MS. CYNTHIA MAKACHIA | ||
Regional Organisation | Building value-added networks in the workplace and trading support. | USAID | MS. LUCY MITEI |
Entrepreneur Testimony | Entrepreneurial Testimony on access to market, finance, networks and technology: Breaking barriers in the Energy Sector: Lessons and Tips | Egypt | MS. DENISSE ABUDINÉN |
Industry Association | Gender Mainstreaming in Energy and Power markets | Brands and Beyond Ltd | MR. JAMES NGOMELI |
Industry Association | Gender Mainstreaming in Energy and Power markets | Chovu International Holdings Ltd East Africa | MR. TRESOR CHOVU |
Entrepreneurs Testimony | Entrepreneurial Testimony on access to market, finance, networks and technology: Breaking barriers in the Energy Sector: Lessons and Tips | Kenya | MS. MARY NJUE |
Kenya | DR. LINDA DAVIS | ||
Uganda | MS. SUMAYA MAHOMED | ||
Rwanda | MS. THERESE SEKAMANA | ||
Ethiopia | MS. FILAGOT TESFAYE | ||
Regional Organisation | Gender Mainstreaming in Energy and Power markets | The Eastern Africa Power Pool | MR. LEBBI CHANGULLAH Secretary General |
Close | Closing Remarks: | AWEaP | MS. BERTHA DLAMINI |
Watch our webinar and download presentations shared by speakers:
We encourage you to do the following:
- Visit our YouTube channel
- Watch previous webinars
- Take notes from the presentations given
- Note the tips shared on how you can gain entry into the energy and power sector as an entrepreneur
- Note programmes in place to address some of the barriers:
- Access to market
- Access to skills development
- Access to finance
- Access to technology
- Download presentations and listen to the recorded webinar again
- Follow through by: visiting websites and taking the initiative to build the network necessary to enable your participation.