women-and-the-energy-value-chain-9d110ae50f484b8c.pdf

This research paper examines the inclusion of women in the renewable energy (RE) value chains of Rwanda and South Africa. It identifies systemic barriers—including limited access to STEM education, a lack of gender-responsive financing, and a disconnect between policy and implementation—that prevent women from moving beyond passive roles as energy consumers into technical, managerial, and entrepreneurial positions. The document provides a three-tier gender mainstreaming toolkit to help policymakers, donors, and the private sector foster a more inclusive energy sector in Africa.

• There is a significant gap between the formulation of gender policies and their actual implementation in both Rwanda and South Africa, often due to insufficient project evaluation and a lack of enforcement mechanisms for the private sector.
• Gender mainstreaming in large-scale energy infrastructure is often treated as a 'tick-box' exercise, focusing on total female headcounts rather than meaningful integration into the energy value chain.
• Access to finance remains a primary barrier for women-owned businesses in the RE sector. While the Facility for Investment in Renewable Small Energy Transactions (FIRST) helps small entrants, it lacks a specific mandate to prioritize women-led businesses.
• Limited access to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) education from secondary to tertiary levels contributes to the low number of women entering technical and management roles in the energy sector.
• In Rwanda, electricity access is skewed by gender; 70% of male-headed households have access compared to 56% of female-headed households, with the disparity being even more pronounced in rural areas.
• Rwanda has implemented advanced national Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) measures since 2008, requiring public entities to submit gender budget statements, though these requirements have not extended to the private sector.
• South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) programme has successfully attracted over ZAR 195 billion ($14 billion) in investment, but it lacks specific policy goals for gender mainstreaming.
• In South Africa's RE sector, women are frequently relegated to non-technical roles; many IPPs satisfy women-owned vendor (WoV) requirements by procuring cleaning and cooking services rather than technical expertise.
• The stagnation of the Small-scale IPP Procurement Programme (SPIPP) in South Africa has hindered the ability of SMMEs and women-owned businesses to enter the RE industry through projects of 5MW or less.
• The document proposes a three-tier toolkit for gender mainstreaming: the first tier focuses on political mandates and financial mechanisms; the second on STEM education and job creation; and the third on broad-based industry collaboration.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (n.d.). women-and-the-energy-value-chain-9d110ae50f484b8c.pdf. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Women-and-the-energy-value-chain.pdf

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. women-and-the-energy-value-chain-9d110ae50f484b8c.pdf. n.d. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Women-and-the-energy-value-chain.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=women-and-the-energy-value-chain-9d110ae50f484b8c.pdf |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Women-and-the-energy-value-chain.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairsndwomenandtheenergyvaluechain9d110ae50f484b8cpdf, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{women-and-the-energy-value-chain-9d110ae50f484b8c.pdf}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Women-and-the-energy-value-chain.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }