From Uche Usim, Abuja
Women In Energy Network (WIEN) is advocating for the increase of women in the energy industry and has set an inclusivity target of 35% by 2025.
The National President of WIEN and Managing Director, Zigma Limited, Mrs Funmi Ogbue, made the disclosure in her keynote address titled; “Gender Inclusiveness Critical for Competing & Winning on the Global Energy Stage”, which she delivered at the 6th Sub-Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC) held recently.
According to her, women, to date, are scarce in the technical fields – which are the core for future energy executives.
She said the time has come to strategically harness the huge potential women bring to the table both in the energy industry and other economic ventures.
‘The majority are employed in administrative, medical, human capital development, public affairs and legal departments. The industry needs to be more future-forward. We could take cues from our counterparts in the fintech and banking sectors.
‘In buttressing the point about numbers, a study conducted by McKinsey & Company notes that, in Africa, women make up 9% of senior management positions in the energy sector, with gender diversity decreasing with seniority. Women make up less than 8% of technical jobs in oil and gas.
‘Women in the Industry, whether entrepreneurs or employees are nowhere near enough especially now that the industry needs all hands on deck to achieve the forecasted growth. Attracting women either via the corporate employee route or by encouraging entrepreneurs into the industry will be key,’ she explained.
Ogbue further quoted another McKinsey & Company research submission which states that ‘the problem of untapped female talent is not unique to oil & gas, but it is more acute.
‘When compared with 18 other industries, oil & gas was least in female participation at entry-level.’
She emphasised that the oil and gas industry must be intentional about setting up diversity targets across all levels be it at entry levels, senior leaders, board and management.
She called for the promotion of incentives for employing women or subcontracting to women-owned firms and promoting joint ventures and alliances that include women-owned firms.
The WIEN president called on organizations to help achieve the desired level of inclusivity in the industry, even as she urged women in the industry to be alert to opportunities by preparing themselves to be able to capitalize on available opportunities.
‘I encourage you to use the tools at your disposal, such as the $40 million Women in Oil and Gas Intervention Fund deployed by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Nexim Nigeria Export-Import Bank.
‘There will always be the need to discuss the role of women to achieve industry growth. Women are not new to the industry; we play all sorts of roles from the governance aspect to the entrepreneurial and then the corporate employees’ aspect. Women have been involved in the industry just as long as men have – although not in as great numbers.
‘Entrepreneurship has a huge potential for employment and wealth generation, but the participation of Entrepreneurs in this capital-intensive industry – has remained insignificant. A significant gap exists in opportunities for entrepreneurs in oil & gas, and it is even more accentuated for women-owned businesses that generally have fewer resources to compete.
‘The African women are however natural entrepreneurs so there is the need to step up our support system to ensure there are more in the industry. The industry must be nurturing. There needs to be a support system that intentionally identifies, promotes, develops, and sponsors women. The support system should include more gender-targeted training and certification programme, access to market opportunities and funds such as the one the NCDMB has put in place where collateral and business track record is less tedious. There is a need to ensure that there is a gender-balanced future-focused pipeline for the churning out of female entrepreneurs just like the fintech and banking sectors are doing,’ she added.