Women are progressing in all the fields, including the energy sector. In this era of modernisation and hi-tech cities and societies, women require an efficient energy source for their homes for heating, cooking, easy transportation and at the same time less expensive than conventional sources.
Energy initiatives should promoting the empowerment of women to increase income generating opportunities, reduce hunger and poverty levels and enhance women’s social-political status. Cooking, heating and lighting needs places a significant burden on rural women and girls, negatively ompacting their health and safety. This in turn limits their education and livelihood opportunities
Improving women’s status has an impact on many other development outcomes, including clean energy sector. Failure by nations to recognise the full potential of women will result in lost opportunities to achieve multiple benefits across the energy sector.
Increasing women’s participation in policy dialogue and opening the renewable energy and energy effeciency labour forces to women, and increasiing women’s participation as investers, will both support effectiveness of mitigation actions and pave the way toward gender equality in the energy sector.
As argued by Loren Aguilar of International Union for Conservation of Nature, evidence from many sectors suggests that integrating women into all levels of the energy value chain will lead to more effective clean energy initiatives, unleash greater return on investment and expand emission reduction opportunities.
While more attention is being paid to the imperative role of women in the energy sector, thre is still a significant lack of recognition of women as more that passive users of energy. For instance, the current composition of the energy sector, particularly at high-level decision-making positions, remains a homogenous group, if it is luck of specialised training or tertiary education then lets train more young women in ingineering fields and encourage women to invest in renewable energy businesses.
This initiative of renewable energy and innovation will collaborate well with Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 7. Malawi can be a country fast becoming a leader in renewable energy innovation.
Women have come a long way. They have made their positions claer in many more complicated spheres of life than what thye themselves could imagine of. And the world long before been savouring the fruits of women’s virtues. And now they are on a level playing field of all imaginable odds and opportunities and they stand poised to stake indisputable claims for their due pounds.
Ultimately, what turns out to be those signs of change in our present day society os more of the results of these claims than of the so-called revolutions that other social organs like parties and pressure groups both political and non-political, claim to have brought about over their efforts.
When it comes to women and their representation in the society, what surfaces mostly visibly is their positions in the political circles or in the circles of some power.
It is a fact that not many changes have come up with in the society by way of women holding such positions. So long as they remain not proportionally represented the ones who get set and go with their male counterparts end up nowhere and they come back to square one. So, it is better not to press for their flesh in the electorate.
This is why organisations such as Open Africa is organising round table discussions involving major players and captains in renewable energy energy industries.
Open Africa’s mandate is to facilitate business and investment in the Africa continent through effectively harnessing the efforts of governments and private sector institutions.
The Open Africa Round Table Discussion for alternative energy in Africa will host key industry members, policy makers and other stakeholders integral to delivering a clen sustainable future for the continent.
By Mphatso Kampeni,
a Diplomacy and Internation Relations schoolar based in Kingdom of Eswatini