A small but significant change is taking
place in the energy sector. The confirmation of Mrs Rebecca Miano as the chief
executive of KenGen falls perfectly within an emerging trend. Away from the jubilation
seen in the social media and the energy sector in particular, the appointment
of Mrs Miano represents an ongoing strategic positioning of women in what has
otherwise been a man’s world.
KenGen
remains one of the most profitable and promising companies in the sector. With the recently appointed CEO of National
Oil also being a woman, we are seeing a shift in the market where opportunities
in the energy sector are opening up for all to participate. But that’s not all.
The recent appointments also show a shift from the tradition of picking top
management from core engineering to business-oriented expertise.
Mr Kenneth Tarus and Fernandez Barasa, the
current CEOs of Kenya Power and KETRACO respectively are accountants. Mr Tarus replaced Dr Ben Chumo, a human
resource professional. That shift is driven by the fact that the consumer will
always want an affordable, stable and quality energy as the shareholders demand
good return on their investments.
In short, managing the energy business,
just like other firms, has to do with growing customer base, innovation and
reducing cost as managers find it crucial to put a face in all their policy
decisions and outcomes.
The barriers and falling and the silver
lining is unmistakable. If the uptake of science subjects have traditionally
limited appointment of women to key positions in energy sector, this can no
longer be an excuse. Moreover, every single woman hired becomes a mentor to
hundreds others!
With the renewable energy sector thriving,
there should be no reason to continue having few women at the top level
decision making in energy organisations. Renewable energy has brought a world
of new opportunities of gender inclusivity. According to International Renewable Energy Association there were
8.1million jobs created last year with Kenya approximately creating 20,000 jobs.
These jobs have opened opportunity for women to be involved in the energy
sector value chain. The government has also encouraged the energy sector
players to continuously commit to the 30 per cent procurement rule and 40 per
cent local content for youth and women.
The educations sector is slowly changing
with engineering now focusing more on solving day to day issues .This kind of
approach is what is endearing more women in join the engineering jobs. The
gender lens is now magnified at the energy sector with the impact of the
courses in saving humanity, protecting environment and improving economic empowerment
taking center stage.
In the last five years the country has
connected 5m households to the grid while the economic output is still low but
growing steadily. We are seeing a strong link between energy access and women
empowerment while firewood harvesting, cooking and fetching water have been
occupying 70 per cent of women time in the rural area the narration is changing
with energy access and renewable energy solutions . There is more time for
productive work and financial independence is growing .Grass root women organisations
are coming forward, donors are pouring in to build capacity, offer
entrepreneurship training and prospects of trading within the value chain have
improved quality of life. With the solar pump, cooling stations, irrigation
kits using solar power. We can say that energy access improves gender equality
The education sector is growing with new
courses in the renewable energy and sustainability that have added flavor to
engineering. During the women in energy
conference 2016 last year it was noted that women engineers are taking up post
graduate studies and moving away from engineering completely. The PS energy Dr
Njoroge while noting that it is very expensive venture to train an engineer
actually costing government Sh500,000 there is need to tame that tide .
The growth path for an engineer is also
becoming less and less attractive with the rigid system of promotion and
hierarchy engineering is offering very few opportunities for men and women to
grow in this companies .While other professions you can raise to full manager
in a young age engineering is not possible to be a chief manager at a certain age
.This is discouraging to many young engineers to pursue their career to its
fullest.
There is also scarce data in the market to
how the available opportunities in the energy sector. The sector was still
believed to be male dominated with all activities and pictures depicting male colleagues
with no gender lens. Hence the energy sector does not seem attractive .Mentorship
opportunities are also in short supply as there are very few forums for mentorship
in the sector of which it can be improved.
The networking opportunities are also few
that need to be enhanced that will done .Therefore this kind of appointment at
high level help to dispel the perceptions that the women cannot lead in the
energy sector companies and encourages young women in schools to take STEM
Mr
Ngomeli is the chairman of Chartered Institute of Marketing East Africa and an
energy consultant