Africa Women in Energy and Power

Africa Women in Energy and Power was founded by Ms Bertha Dlamini in 2018. As an entrepreneur in the energy and power sector, with corporate experience as well, she experienced and observed the lack of support for women entrepreneurs in the sector, in particular Electricity. She witnessed large projects being executed by men and global companies on the continent, and felt that there was a need to establish an organisation, a movement that would progressively accelerate the participation of women in the energy and power sector.

Africa faces a huge electricity demand challenge. Existing infrastructure is insufficient to meet current requirements, let alone the growth of the coming decades. An estimated 620 million people, primarily in rural communities, are expected to remain without power (Jackson, 2015). The hardest hit people in this case are women and youth. Without energy, there can be no adequate health care, sanitation, education, economic growth or job creation. Without these basic functions and services, the risk of social and political disruption increases significantly. Having safe, sustainable and reliable energy is central to what it takes to be a healthy, caring and peaceful society.

The aim of the WVLSA project is to educate 500 Africa women entrepreneurs ready to deliver complex energy solutions for the continent. This will be achieved through delivering an Entrepreneurial Accelerator in partnership with African Leadership University for African Women Entrepreneurs in Energy.