By Jennifer Boca

It’s not uncommon for brands to use Women’s Month to share their achievements in promoting gender equality and the advancement of women. There’s ongoing debate about whether this devalues the significance of an event rooted in a brave and risky stand against a repressive regime.

The 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings – SA’s seat of government – on 9 August 1956 showed enormous courage and solidarity at a time when protests were met with violence meted out by what was essentially a police state. Their conviction to social justice has inspired successive generations of every gender.

It’s in that spirit that a frank discussion – and more importantly, action – is needed to address gender representation in the renewable-energy sector. The simple truth is that the sector is not meeting many of its key performance metrics for inclusion and empowerment of women.

It’s certainly not through lack of commitment and effort. Part of the challenge is a chicken-and-egg situation especially when it comes to procurement where a scarcity of women-owned businesses and in the more technical aspects of the value chain, makes it difficult to give preference to them as suppliers during construction and operation of projects.

Concerted efforts are certainly being made and they are bearing fruit. Each is an inspiring example of what can and should be achieved.

To ensure we have a future pipeline of female talent in the sector, one of Lekela’s key focus areas is encouraging girls to take up science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in primary and secondary school. In Loeriesfontein in the Northern Cape, for example, a newly equipped science laboratory has enriched the learning experience for nearly 200 learners in grades 4 to 7, as part of this effort to support and improve uptake in STEM education.

Another example of Lekela’s efforts to address the technical skills-gap to enhance female participation in the renewable energy sector is our Engineering Apprenticeship Program in Egypt started last year that targets female engineering graduates. Three female engineering graduates have already completed internships at our 252MW West Bakr facility, with a view to establishing careers in the wind sector, and with a further five commencing their internships in 2022.

Another key aspect of our work is ensuring that local women benefit from our community development efforts. The Lekela Taiba Wind farm project in Senegal provides a great example of partnership with local women to enhance their participation in enterprise development and livelihood improvement. Working together, Lekela has built a covered central marketplace with solar-powered cold-storage, helping the women to trade in a safer environment as they previously traded by the side of a highway – a risky undertaking. The next phase of our collaboration with the women in Taiba is to embark on value-addition program for the farm produce, including recently providing training on mango juicing and cashew processing.

These efforts to transform lives must be recognised and encouraged. Another example of the kind of intervention needed to achieve the level of change needed is  epitomised by the Initiative for Social Performance in Renewable Energy (INSPIRE), which aims to advance the field of social performance in SA’s renewable energy sector.

INSPIRE has the wider goal of becoming a leading platform across the African continent and internationally. It was established by Synergy Global Consulting with founding support of three major players in renewable energy in Africa: Actis, Lekela and BTE Renewables. The South African Wind Energy Industry Association (SAWEA) and the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) are implementation partners. INSPIRE is a registered non-profit company (NPC) with an independent board and secretariat. It provides the structure for collective, coordinated efforts at socioeconomic transformation – for women and other groups – to deliver greater, quicker results collaboratively instead of unilateral efforts ensuring best practice is harnessed.

Where to from here? We must start with gender assessments at every level of the industry to understand the current level of gender inclusion. We must collaborate across brands and disciplines to address gender inequity where gaps are identified at board, management and employment levels as well as ensuring targeting of women beneficiaries in communities through economic development programs in SA and elsewhere in Africa. Finally,  we must measure and report on outcomes so that we can track progress and take lessons learnt along the journey to further enhance women participation and inclusion in the sector. The need for action demands that those efforts be redoubled by any and all who have the capacity in the sector.

- Boca is Head of Environmental, Social and Governance at Lekela Power