OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN ENGENDERING THE AFRICAN ENERGY VALUE CHAIN

The document argues that while renewable energy (RE) offers a unique opportunity to correct gender imbalances seen in traditional energy sectors, significant barriers remain in Africa. Using South Africa and Rwanda as case studies, it identifies three primary obstacles: a lack of leadership to mainstream gender, a deficiency in appropriate financing mechanisms for women-owned businesses, and a shortage of entry-level gender-based initiatives in education and enterprise development. The brief proposes a three-tier strategy involving short-term policy improvements, medium-term educational trust funds, and long-term industry guidelines to ensure women's participation in technical and management roles.

• Renewable energy (RE) technologies provide a strategic opportunity to dismantle non-gender aware patterns from traditional energy sectors because they allow for off-grid scaling and the introduction of new operational approaches.
• In sub-Saharan Africa, a high reliance on hazardous fuels for domestic needs disproportionately affects women and girls, limiting their economic and educational opportunities; however, providing women with clean energy access is linked to a 59% increase in wages.
• Rwanda has implemented strong legislative frameworks, including the Infrastructure Gender Mainstreaming Strategy (2017–2018) and the Rwanda Energy Policy (2015), yet a gap persists between policy formulation and implementation, and electricity access remains lower for female-headed households (12% on-grid) than male-headed households (19% on-grid).
• South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) programme has successfully attracted over ZAR 22,195 billion in investment, but the large-scale nature of its auction process creates high upfront administrative and transaction costs that act as barriers for smaller, women-owned entities.
• Gender representation in South Africa's RE sector remains low, with an average women-to-men ratio of 33% across the value chain; women are frequently relegated to socio-economic development or environmental assessment roles rather than executive leadership.
• Financial institutions in both Rwanda and South Africa generally lack specific gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) mechanisms, although some progress is noted through the Development Bank of Rwanda's $30 million guarantee facility and South Africa's FIRST facility, which provides loans between ZAR 50 million and ZAR 300 million to small players.
• A critical barrier to women's technical participation in the energy sector is the lack of access to science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education at secondary and tertiary levels in both Rwanda and South Africa.

APA

Parshotam, A. (2018). OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN ENGENDERING THE AFRICAN ENERGY VALUE CHAIN. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GA_Th1_PB_Parshotam_20181029-1.pdf

Chicago

Parshotam, Asmita. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN ENGENDERING THE AFRICAN ENERGY VALUE CHAIN. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2018. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GA_Th1_PB_Parshotam_20181029-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Parshotam |first1=Asmita |title=OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN ENGENDERING THE AFRICAN ENERGY VALUE CHAIN |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=October 2018 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GA_Th1_PB_Parshotam_20181029-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{parshotam2018opportunities, author = {Parshotam, Asmita}, title = {{OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN ENGENDERING THE AFRICAN ENERGY VALUE CHAIN}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2018}, month = oct, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GA_Th1_PB_Parshotam_20181029-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }