Introducing Hlengiwe Radebe
My name is Hlengiwe Radebe. I am 30-year-old female with a keen interest for the energy sector in sub Saharan Africa. I am passionate about women empowerment and gender equality. While in recent years I have met some people who genuinely treat everyone equal, my world is general patriarchal, and I sometimes find myself gravitating towards patriarchal thinking — that I should sit back and let the men take led or that men are better leaders. I strongly believe that that women should be afforded the same opportunities as their male counterparts and paid the same. My colleagues thought I had won the lottery when I heard Damilola Ogunbiyi was taking up the role of CEO of Sustainable Energy for All. Firstly, because for the second time the position was filled by a woman and secondly, they hired a black woman — it made me believe my dreams will come true one day — representation matters.
I joined the energy sector because I wanted to transform the space. The sector is male dominated and my intention was to increase the number of women and amplify the perspective they bring. I grew up in the rural areas and the primary energy users were women yet professionally the energy sector was male dominated. Mostly, because until recently the power sector was about the “wires business”, connecting buildings to electricity. So, I figured I should join the sector to increase the number of women and change perspective — what better way than to use my personal lived experience.
Energy is an intricate and necessary part of our lives and in sub Saharan Africa lack of sufficient energy, due to infrastructure lagging, is one of the reasons why our economy still lags. Furthermore, as an African who has grown up in the rural areas, I know how the lack of clean energy negatively impacts the lives of women and children. When I got into the space, I realized that to justly transform the energy sector in sub Saharan African requires enabling everyone to have access to clean, affordable, sufficient energy in their homes and for their businesses. I want to work with communities that are currently unelectrified, to understand their needs and provide electrification solutions that meet their needs. Equally, I want to work with governments and international donors to ensure there is funding, policies and capacity to ensure we can address community needs. My last article “Rural Electrification — Why an Understanding of Community Ethos is so Important”, pinpoints why I believe it is important to understand and honour community needs and experiences and ensure electrification projects are successful. As we stand, research shows that with the current funding being made available for electrification, we are going to fall short in meeting the Sustainable Development Goal 7 by 2030. Hence, it is important to me to ensure that all projects implemented are successful to avoid any waste of resources.
I have been working in the sector for 5 years now. I have supported cities in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa with the pioneering work of developing and implementing sustainable energy and climate change strategies, covering renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy poverty. I have coordinated large, multi-year programmes supporting South African and Sub-Saharan African cities transition to a sustainable energy future through policy analysis, strategy development, implementation and knowledge exchange. Since joining the energy sector, I have worked, met and read about the most incredible women in the sector. As we celebrate Women’s Day in South Africa, I decided to start featuring women who are transforming the sector. I want to share their stories. Equally, I figure I might as well help event organisers, company boards and recruiters run out of excuses and show them there is enough female talent in the energy sector.
Stay tuned and follow me on LinkedIn for updates.
