Africa’s energy transition is not a question of if but how, and for whom. Across the continent, nations are accelerating their shift toward cleaner, decentralized, and more resilient energy systems. Solar mini-grids, off-grid technologies, and large-scale renewables are reshaping the energy landscape. But amid this transformation, there is a persistent blind spot: gender.

The truth is, energy policy in Africa whether at national or regional levels remains predominantly gender-neutral. And while that may sound fair on paper, neutrality in a structurally unequal system only reinforces the status quo.

You can’t solve the energy crisis by ignoring half the population.

Women are not just energy users. They are producers, innovators, and decision-makers. They are community builders and early adopters. When they’re excluded from policy, planning, and participation, it’s not just a gender issue it’s an energy inefficiency problem.

Africa’s energy transition cannot be just, effective, or scalable unless women are placed at its very center.

The Gender-Energy Nexus: More Than Access

In many parts of Africa, energy poverty has a distinctly female face.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by a lack of access to modern energy. They spend hours collecting firewood for cooking, limiting time for education or income-generating work. They suffer health impacts from indoor air pollution. They’re more vulnerable to energy-related risks, from unsafe public lighting to inaccessible transportation. But the problem isn’t just access it’s representation and influence.

Despite being key energy consumers and facilitators of household energy usage, women remain starkly underrepresented in energy leadership. According to the IRENA Renewable Energy and Jobs Review, women comprise only 32% of the renewable energy workforce globally and the number is likely lower across Africa. In technical and policy-making roles, the gap is even wider.

When women are excluded from decision-making spaces, their needs are overlooked. And when their participation is tokenized rather than institutionalized, progress stalls.

This is the essence of the gender-energy nexus: Women are disproportionately affected by poor energy access, but also uniquely positioned to lead transformative change if empowered to do so.

The Cost of Gender-Blind Policy: What We Lose

Too many energy policies in Africa are still designed from the top down, guided by outdated assumptions and limited stakeholder diversity. They may reference women vaguely as “beneficiaries” but rarely recognize them as agents of change or decision-makers.

Here’s what happens when energy policies are gender-blind:

• Infrastructure misses the mark. Large grid projects often overlook localized, clean energy solutions that would directly benefit women-run households and small businesses.
• Skilled labor goes untapped. Without deliberate inclusion and training programs, women are excluded from the growing green jobs economy.
• Data remains male-centered. Few national policies collect or utilize sex-disaggregated energy data, resulting in misinformed investments and interventions.

A gender-blind policy doesn’t just exclude women. It delays development. It wastes resources. It limits innovation. And it risks building an energy system that reproduces inequality instead of resolving it.

Women as Catalysts: Not Just Beneficiaries, but Leaders

Reimagining women’s role in Africa’s energy sector begins by shifting the narrative from passive recipients to powerful catalysts.

Across Africa, examples of women-led innovation in energy are gaining ground:

• In Kenya, women are building solar micro-grids and managing payment systems in off-grid communities.
• In Nigeria, women-led cooperatives are leading last-mile distribution of clean cookstoves and solar lanterns.
• In South Africa, female engineers are driving renewable energy installations in peri-urban and rural regions.

These women are not anomalies. They are proof that inclusive models work and scale. Energy programs that prioritize women’s leadership and ownership tend to be more community-driven, better adopted, and longer lasting. They also tend to have greater multiplier effects benefitting households, schools, local economies, and the environment.

But for every success story, there are thousands more waiting for access, funding, or simply a seat at the table.

What Gender-Responsive Energy Policy Looks Like

True gender integration isn’t symbolic. It’s structural. And it starts with deliberate design.

Here’s what gender-responsive energy policy should include:

• Inclusive consultations: Women must be meaningfully engaged in every stage of policy formulation, from national planning to local program delivery.
• Gender budgeting: Budgets must include targeted allocations for women's energy access, training, and entrepreneurship.
• Capacity building: STEM education for girls, technical training for women, and mentorship programs must be institutionalized not left to NGOs alone.
• Workforce incentives: Governments and private sector actors must be encouraged to hire, retain, and promote women in technical and leadership roles.
• Data and accountability: Collecting sex-disaggregated data should be mandatory, alongside gender audits and policy impact assessments.

These are not “nice-to-haves.” They are foundational components of an inclusive and effective energy ecosystem.

Driving Policy from the Ground Up: The Role of Civil Society and Partnerships

This is where civil society organizations particularly those working at the intersection of gender and energy have been pivotal.

Our organization, for example, is actively bridging the gap between policy ambition and real-world implementation. We work with government ministries, utilities, energy startups, and international donors to:

• Advocate for gender-responsive energy strategies.
• Provide policy recommendations grounded in community realities.
• Facilitate internship and mentorship programs that place young women into meaningful roles across the energy value chain.
• Conduct grassroots awareness campaigns to inspire the next generation of energy leaders.

We believe change happens when policy meets people. And our approach ensures women are not just represented in policy discussions but actively shaping them.

A Just Energy Transition Requires Gender Justice

Africa stands at a crossroads. As we leapfrog into renewable technologies and rethink energy systems, we must also rethink who gets to lead, participate, and benefit.

A gender-blind energy policy is not neutral it is incomplete.

Women have the potential to drive Africa’s energy transition, not as an add-on, but as an engine. But to unlock that potential, we must embed gender at the core of every energy strategy, funding mechanism, and implementation framework.

Because an inclusive energy transition is not a favor to women it is a prerequisite for prosperity.

Final Word

The next time we gather at an energy summit, a policy roundtable, or a regulatory workshop, let’s ask a different question.

Not “How do we include women?”

But: “Why aren’t they leading?”

Africa’s energy future depends on the answers we’re willing to act on today.

About WEN-Africa

At the forefront of this mission stands WEN-Africa, a pan-African initiative committed to placing women at the center of the continent’s energy transition. Through strategic policy advocacy, public-private partnerships, and programs that connect young women with internships and leadership pathways, we are working to close the gender gap in Africa’s energy sector. Our work is grounded in action not just dialogue and is driven by one core belief: energy equity is impossible without gender equity.

Africa’s energy transition is not a question of if but how, and for whom. Across the continent, nations are accelerating their shift toward cleaner, decentralized, and more resilient energy systems. Solar mini-grids, off-grid technologies, and large-scale renewables are reshaping the energy landscape. But amid this transformation, there is a persistent blind spot: gender.

The truth is, energy policy in Africa whether at national or regional levels remains predominantly gender-neutral. And while that may sound fair on paper, neutrality in a structurally unequal system only reinforces the status quo.

You can’t solve the energy crisis by ignoring half the population.

Women are not just energy users. They are producers, innovators, and decision-makers. They are community builders and early adopters. When they’re excluded from policy, planning, and participation, it’s not just a gender issue it’s an energy inefficiency problem.

Africa’s energy transition cannot be just, effective, or scalable unless women are placed at its very center.

The Gender-Energy Nexus: More Than Access

In many parts of Africa, energy poverty has a distinctly female face.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by a lack of access to modern energy. They spend hours collecting firewood for cooking, limiting time for education or income-generating work. They suffer health impacts from indoor air pollution. They’re more vulnerable to energy-related risks, from unsafe public lighting to inaccessible transportation. But the problem isn’t just access it’s representation and influence.

Despite being key energy consumers and facilitators of household energy usage, women remain starkly underrepresented in energy leadership. According to the IRENA Renewable Energy and Jobs Review, women comprise only 32% of the renewable energy workforce globally and the number is likely lower across Africa. In technical and policy-making roles, the gap is even wider.

When women are excluded from decision-making spaces, their needs are overlooked. And when their participation is tokenized rather than institutionalized, progress stalls.

This is the essence of the gender-energy nexus: Women are disproportionately affected by poor energy access, but also uniquely positioned to lead transformative change if empowered to do so.

The Cost of Gender-Blind Policy: What We Lose

Too many energy policies in Africa are still designed from the top down, guided by outdated assumptions and limited stakeholder diversity. They may reference women vaguely as “beneficiaries” but rarely recognize them as agents of change or decision-makers.

Here’s what happens when energy policies are gender-blind:

• Infrastructure misses the mark. Large grid projects often overlook localized, clean energy solutions that would directly benefit women-run households and small businesses.
• Skilled labor goes untapped. Without deliberate inclusion and training programs, women are excluded from the growing green jobs economy.
• Data remains male-centered. Few national policies collect or utilize sex-disaggregated energy data, resulting in misinformed investments and interventions.

A gender-blind policy doesn’t just exclude women. It delays development. It wastes resources. It limits innovation. And it risks building an energy system that reproduces inequality instead of resolving it.

Women as Catalysts: Not Just Beneficiaries, but Leaders

Reimagining women’s role in Africa’s energy sector begins by shifting the narrative from passive recipients to powerful catalysts.

Across Africa, examples of women-led innovation in energy are gaining ground:

• In Kenya, women are building solar micro-grids and managing payment systems in off-grid communities.
• In Nigeria, women-led cooperatives are leading last-mile distribution of clean cookstoves and solar lanterns.
• In South Africa, female engineers are driving renewable energy installations in peri-urban and rural regions.

These women are not anomalies. They are proof that inclusive models work and scale. Energy programs that prioritize women’s leadership and ownership tend to be more community-driven, better adopted, and longer lasting. They also tend to have greater multiplier effects benefitting households, schools, local economies, and the environment.

But for every success story, there are thousands more waiting for access, funding, or simply a seat at the table.

What Gender-Responsive Energy Policy Looks Like

True gender integration isn’t symbolic. It’s structural. And it starts with deliberate design.

Here’s what gender-responsive energy policy should include:

• Inclusive consultations: Women must be meaningfully engaged in every stage of policy formulation, from national planning to local program delivery.
• Gender budgeting: Budgets must include targeted allocations for women's energy access, training, and entrepreneurship.
• Capacity building: STEM education for girls, technical training for women, and mentorship programs must be institutionalized not left to NGOs alone.
• Workforce incentives: Governments and private sector actors must be encouraged to hire, retain, and promote women in technical and leadership roles.
• Data and accountability: Collecting sex-disaggregated data should be mandatory, alongside gender audits and policy impact assessments.

These are not “nice-to-haves.” They are foundational components of an inclusive and effective energy ecosystem.

Driving Policy from the Ground Up: The Role of Civil Society and Partnerships

This is where civil society organizations particularly those working at the intersection of gender and energy have been pivotal.

Our organization, for example, is actively bridging the gap between policy ambition and real-world implementation. We work with government ministries, utilities, energy startups, and international donors to:

• Advocate for gender-responsive energy strategies.
• Provide policy recommendations grounded in community realities.
• Facilitate internship and mentorship programs that place young women into meaningful roles across the energy value chain.
• Conduct grassroots awareness campaigns to inspire the next generation of energy leaders.

We believe change happens when policy meets people. And our approach ensures women are not just represented in policy discussions but actively shaping them.

A Just Energy Transition Requires Gender Justice

Africa stands at a crossroads. As we leapfrog into renewable technologies and rethink energy systems, we must also rethink who gets to lead, participate, and benefit.

A gender-blind energy policy is not neutral it is incomplete.

Women have the potential to drive Africa’s energy transition, not as an add-on, but as an engine. But to unlock that potential, we must embed gender at the core of every energy strategy, funding mechanism, and implementation framework.

Because an inclusive energy transition is not a favor to women it is a prerequisite for prosperity.

Final Word

The next time we gather at an energy summit, a policy roundtable, or a regulatory workshop, let’s ask a different question.

Not “How do we include women?”

But: “Why aren’t they leading?”

Africa’s energy future depends on the answers we’re willing to act on today.

About WEN-Africa

At the forefront of this mission stands WEN-Africa, a pan-African initiative committed to placing women at the center of the continent’s energy transition. Through strategic policy advocacy, public-private partnerships, and programs that connect young women with internships and leadership pathways, we are working to close the gender gap in Africa’s energy sector. Our work is grounded in action not just dialogue and is driven by one core belief: energy equity is impossible without gender equity.

Africa’s energy transition is not a question of if but how, and for whom. Across the continent, nations are accelerating their shift toward cleaner, decentralized, and more resilient energy systems. Solar mini-grids, off-grid technologies, and large-scale renewables are reshaping the energy landscape. But amid this transformation, there is a persistent blind spot: gender.

The truth is, energy policy in Africa whether at national or regional levels remains predominantly gender-neutral. And while that may sound fair on paper, neutrality in a structurally unequal system only reinforces the status quo.

You can’t solve the energy crisis by ignoring half the population.

Women are not just energy users. They are producers, innovators, and decision-makers. They are community builders and early adopters. When they’re excluded from policy, planning, and participation, it’s not just a gender issue it’s an energy inefficiency problem.

Africa’s energy transition cannot be just, effective, or scalable unless women are placed at its very center.

The Gender-Energy Nexus: More Than Access

In many parts of Africa, energy poverty has a distinctly female face.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by a lack of access to modern energy. They spend hours collecting firewood for cooking, limiting time for education or income-generating work. They suffer health impacts from indoor air pollution. They’re more vulnerable to energy-related risks, from unsafe public lighting to inaccessible transportation. But the problem isn’t just access it’s representation and influence.

Despite being key energy consumers and facilitators of household energy usage, women remain starkly underrepresented in energy leadership. According to the IRENA Renewable Energy and Jobs Review, women comprise only 32% of the renewable energy workforce globally and the number is likely lower across Africa. In technical and policy-making roles, the gap is even wider.

When women are excluded from decision-making spaces, their needs are overlooked. And when their participation is tokenized rather than institutionalized, progress stalls.

This is the essence of the gender-energy nexus: Women are disproportionately affected by poor energy access, but also uniquely positioned to lead transformative change if empowered to do so.

The Cost of Gender-Blind Policy: What We Lose

Too many energy policies in Africa are still designed from the top down, guided by outdated assumptions and limited stakeholder diversity. They may reference women vaguely as “beneficiaries” but rarely recognize them as agents of change or decision-makers.

Here’s what happens when energy policies are gender-blind:

• Infrastructure misses the mark. Large grid projects often overlook localized, clean energy solutions that would directly benefit women-run households and small businesses.
• Skilled labor goes untapped. Without deliberate inclusion and training programs, women are excluded from the growing green jobs economy.
• Data remains male-centered. Few national policies collect or utilize sex-disaggregated energy data, resulting in misinformed investments and interventions.

A gender-blind policy doesn’t just exclude women. It delays development. It wastes resources. It limits innovation. And it risks building an energy system that reproduces inequality instead of resolving it.

Women as Catalysts: Not Just Beneficiaries, but Leaders

Reimagining women’s role in Africa’s energy sector begins by shifting the narrative from passive recipients to powerful catalysts.

Across Africa, examples of women-led innovation in energy are gaining ground:

• In Kenya, women are building solar micro-grids and managing payment systems in off-grid communities.
• In Nigeria, women-led cooperatives are leading last-mile distribution of clean cookstoves and solar lanterns.
• In South Africa, female engineers are driving renewable energy installations in peri-urban and rural regions.

These women are not anomalies. They are proof that inclusive models work and scale. Energy programs that prioritize women’s leadership and ownership tend to be more community-driven, better adopted, and longer lasting. They also tend to have greater multiplier effects benefitting households, schools, local economies, and the environment.

But for every success story, there are thousands more waiting for access, funding, or simply a seat at the table.

What Gender-Responsive Energy Policy Looks Like

True gender integration isn’t symbolic. It’s structural. And it starts with deliberate design.

Here’s what gender-responsive energy policy should include:

• Inclusive consultations: Women must be meaningfully engaged in every stage of policy formulation, from national planning to local program delivery.
• Gender budgeting: Budgets must include targeted allocations for women's energy access, training, and entrepreneurship.
• Capacity building: STEM education for girls, technical training for women, and mentorship programs must be institutionalized not left to NGOs alone.
• Workforce incentives: Governments and private sector actors must be encouraged to hire, retain, and promote women in technical and leadership roles.
• Data and accountability: Collecting sex-disaggregated data should be mandatory, alongside gender audits and policy impact assessments.

These are not “nice-to-haves.” They are foundational components of an inclusive and effective energy ecosystem.

Driving Policy from the Ground Up: The Role of Civil Society and Partnerships

This is where civil society organizations particularly those working at the intersection of gender and energy have been pivotal.

Our organization, for example, is actively bridging the gap between policy ambition and real-world implementation. We work with government ministries, utilities, energy startups, and international donors to:

• Advocate for gender-responsive energy strategies.
• Provide policy recommendations grounded in community realities.
• Facilitate internship and mentorship programs that place young women into meaningful roles across the energy value chain.
• Conduct grassroots awareness campaigns to inspire the next generation of energy leaders.

We believe change happens when policy meets people. And our approach ensures women are not just represented in policy discussions but actively shaping them.

A Just Energy Transition Requires Gender Justice

Africa stands at a crossroads. As we leapfrog into renewable technologies and rethink energy systems, we must also rethink who gets to lead, participate, and benefit.

A gender-blind energy policy is not neutral it is incomplete.

Women have the potential to drive Africa’s energy transition, not as an add-on, but as an engine. But to unlock that potential, we must embed gender at the core of every energy strategy, funding mechanism, and implementation framework.

Because an inclusive energy transition is not a favor to women it is a prerequisite for prosperity.

Final Word

The next time we gather at an energy summit, a policy roundtable, or a regulatory workshop, let’s ask a different question.

Not “How do we include women?”

But: “Why aren’t they leading?”

Africa’s energy future depends on the answers we’re willing to act on today.

About WEN-Africa

At the forefront of this mission stands WEN-Africa, a pan-African initiative committed to placing women at the center of the continent’s energy transition. Through strategic policy advocacy, public-private partnerships, and programs that connect young women with internships and leadership pathways, we are working to close the gender gap in Africa’s energy sector. Our work is grounded in action not just dialogue and is driven by one core belief: energy equity is impossible without gender equity.

Africa’s energy transition is not a question of if but how, and for whom. Across the continent, nations are accelerating their shift toward cleaner, decentralized, and more resilient energy systems. Solar mini-grids, off-grid technologies, and large-scale renewables are reshaping the energy landscape. But amid this transformation, there is a persistent blind spot: gender.

The truth is, energy policy in Africa whether at national or regional levels remains predominantly gender-neutral. And while that may sound fair on paper, neutrality in a structurally unequal system only reinforces the status quo.

You can’t solve the energy crisis by ignoring half the population.

Women are not just energy users. They are producers, innovators, and decision-makers. They are community builders and early adopters. When they’re excluded from policy, planning, and participation, it’s not just a gender issue it’s an energy inefficiency problem.

Africa’s energy transition cannot be just, effective, or scalable unless women are placed at its very center.

The Gender-Energy Nexus: More Than Access

In many parts of Africa, energy poverty has a distinctly female face.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by a lack of access to modern energy. They spend hours collecting firewood for cooking, limiting time for education or income-generating work. They suffer health impacts from indoor air pollution. They’re more vulnerable to energy-related risks, from unsafe public lighting to inaccessible transportation. But the problem isn’t just access it’s representation and influence.

Despite being key energy consumers and facilitators of household energy usage, women remain starkly underrepresented in energy leadership. According to the IRENA Renewable Energy and Jobs Review, women comprise only 32% of the renewable energy workforce globally and the number is likely lower across Africa. In technical and policy-making roles, the gap is even wider.

When women are excluded from decision-making spaces, their needs are overlooked. And when their participation is tokenized rather than institutionalized, progress stalls.

This is the essence of the gender-energy nexus: Women are disproportionately affected by poor energy access, but also uniquely positioned to lead transformative change if empowered to do so.

The Cost of Gender-Blind Policy: What We Lose

Too many energy policies in Africa are still designed from the top down, guided by outdated assumptions and limited stakeholder diversity. They may reference women vaguely as “beneficiaries” but rarely recognize them as agents of change or decision-makers.

Here’s what happens when energy policies are gender-blind:

• Infrastructure misses the mark. Large grid projects often overlook localized, clean energy solutions that would directly benefit women-run households and small businesses.
• Skilled labor goes untapped. Without deliberate inclusion and training programs, women are excluded from the growing green jobs economy.
• Data remains male-centered. Few national policies collect or utilize sex-disaggregated energy data, resulting in misinformed investments and interventions.

A gender-blind policy doesn’t just exclude women. It delays development. It wastes resources. It limits innovation. And it risks building an energy system that reproduces inequality instead of resolving it.

Women as Catalysts: Not Just Beneficiaries, but Leaders

Reimagining women’s role in Africa’s energy sector begins by shifting the narrative from passive recipients to powerful catalysts.

Across Africa, examples of women-led innovation in energy are gaining ground:

• In Kenya, women are building solar micro-grids and managing payment systems in off-grid communities.
• In Nigeria, women-led cooperatives are leading last-mile distribution of clean cookstoves and solar lanterns.
• In South Africa, female engineers are driving renewable energy installations in peri-urban and rural regions.

These women are not anomalies. They are proof that inclusive models work and scale. Energy programs that prioritize women’s leadership and ownership tend to be more community-driven, better adopted, and longer lasting. They also tend to have greater multiplier effects benefitting households, schools, local economies, and the environment.

But for every success story, there are thousands more waiting for access, funding, or simply a seat at the table.

What Gender-Responsive Energy Policy Looks Like

True gender integration isn’t symbolic. It’s structural. And it starts with deliberate design.

Here’s what gender-responsive energy policy should include:

• Inclusive consultations: Women must be meaningfully engaged in every stage of policy formulation, from national planning to local program delivery.
• Gender budgeting: Budgets must include targeted allocations for women's energy access, training, and entrepreneurship.
• Capacity building: STEM education for girls, technical training for women, and mentorship programs must be institutionalized not left to NGOs alone.
• Workforce incentives: Governments and private sector actors must be encouraged to hire, retain, and promote women in technical and leadership roles.
• Data and accountability: Collecting sex-disaggregated data should be mandatory, alongside gender audits and policy impact assessments.

These are not “nice-to-haves.” They are foundational components of an inclusive and effective energy ecosystem.

Driving Policy from the Ground Up: The Role of Civil Society and Partnerships

This is where civil society organizations particularly those working at the intersection of gender and energy have been pivotal.

Our organization, for example, is actively bridging the gap between policy ambition and real-world implementation. We work with government ministries, utilities, energy startups, and international donors to:

• Advocate for gender-responsive energy strategies.
• Provide policy recommendations grounded in community realities.
• Facilitate internship and mentorship programs that place young women into meaningful roles across the energy value chain.
• Conduct grassroots awareness campaigns to inspire the next generation of energy leaders.

We believe change happens when policy meets people. And our approach ensures women are not just represented in policy discussions but actively shaping them.

A Just Energy Transition Requires Gender Justice

Africa stands at a crossroads. As we leapfrog into renewable technologies and rethink energy systems, we must also rethink who gets to lead, participate, and benefit.

A gender-blind energy policy is not neutral it is incomplete.

Women have the potential to drive Africa’s energy transition, not as an add-on, but as an engine. But to unlock that potential, we must embed gender at the core of every energy strategy, funding mechanism, and implementation framework.

Because an inclusive energy transition is not a favor to women it is a prerequisite for prosperity.

Final Word

The next time we gather at an energy summit, a policy roundtable, or a regulatory workshop, let’s ask a different question.

Not “How do we include women?”

But: “Why aren’t they leading?”

Africa’s energy future depends on the answers we’re willing to act on today.

About WEN-Africa

At the forefront of this mission stands WEN-Africa, a pan-African initiative committed to placing women at the center of the continent’s energy transition. Through strategic policy advocacy, public-private partnerships, and programs that connect young women with internships and leadership pathways, we are working to close the gender gap in Africa’s energy sector. Our work is grounded in action not just dialogue and is driven by one core belief: energy equity is impossible without gender equity.

The conventional metrics of energy access electrification rates, generation capacity, grid expansion do not tell the full story. They paint an incomplete picture that often obscures systemic disparities in how energy is accessed, utilized, and governed, particularly for women and girls.

Sub-Saharan Africa presents one of the most paradoxical energy narratives in the world: a region rich in energy resources solar, hydro, geothermal, and even fossil fuels yet more than two-thirds of its population remains locked out of modern energy systems. Behind this energy poverty lies a deeper, more entrenched injustice: gendered exclusion.

Women and girls, especially in rural and peri-urban areas, are disproportionately burdened by poor energy access. They face daily trade-offs between safety and fuel collection, between economic productivity and domestic obligations, and between educational advancement and exposure to indoor air pollution. The energy transition cannot be considered “just” if these realities remain unaddressed.

This document outlines a systemic strategy to place gender equity at the core of Africa’s energy future not as a parallel goal, but as a fundamental design parameter.

The Gendered Anatomy of Energy Poverty

2.1 Time Poverty and Opportunity Costs

Energy poverty is not just about lack of electricity it is about what people are forced to give up in its absence. For women, this sacrifice is quantifiable:

• An estimated 40 billion hours annually are spent by women and girls collecting firewood and water time that could otherwise be spent on income-generating work, education, or rest.

• In conflict zones, these tasks increase exposure to gender-based violence, making basic energy needs a matter of personal safety.

The opportunity cost of this “time tax” is a critical, yet rarely internalized, component of energy economics in Africa.

2.2 Health Burdens of Traditional Energy Use

Relying on solid biomass for cooking exposes women and children to deadly pollutants. Approximately 600,000 premature deaths occur annually in Africa due to household air pollution, with women accounting for the vast majority. Yet, energy policies continue to prioritize grid connectivity over clean cooking.

This health dimension remains a blind spot in energy infrastructure planning one that not only has public health consequences, but also economic repercussions due to reduced productivity and increased healthcare burdens.

2.3 Economic and Institutional Barriers
Women-headed enterprises face systemic bias in accessing electricity for productive use:

• In Kenya, Ghana, and Zambia, studies indicate that women experience longer delays and face higher informal costs (bribes, red tape) in grid connectivity compared to male counterparts.

• Energy-intensive domestic activities (e.g., agro-processing, textile production) are rarely integrated into infrastructure planning, despite their importance to women-led businesses.

Such barriers limit women’s upward mobility in economic value chains and perpetuate gendered cycles of informality and underinvestment.

3 Beyond Beneficiaries: Reframing Women as Energy Stakeholders

The dominant energy access narrative casts women as passive consumers, reinforcing a cycle of dependency. In reality, women are:

• Key decision-makers in household energy use.

• Informal financiers of energy solutions through savings groups.

• Distributors and retailers in clean energy supply chains.

• Potential micro-producers via solar, biogas, and other decentralised technologies.

Recognizing women as strategic actors not just end-users requires structural shifts in how policies are framed, projects are designed, and capital is allocated.

Institutional Learning: What Has Worked, and Why

4.1 Last Mile Connectivity: Gender in Design, Not Just Delivery

The Last Mile Connectivity Project (Kenya) serves as a model for institutionalizing gender across the project lifecycle:

• A gender analysis was embedded from the conception stage, influencing design criteria and implementation methods.

• Key adaptations included: gender-sensitized utility staff training, female-headed household prioritization, and region-specific community engagement.

• Result: Improved uptake, reduced connection delays, and a significant increase in female household electrification.

The success of this initiative underscores the importance of ex-ante gender integration rather than retrofitted equity measures.

4.2 Women-Led Energy Enterprises: Micro-Innovation with Macro Impact

Small-scale, women-led clean energy businesses using solar kiosks, mobile micro-payments, or pay-as-you-go LPG are demonstrating:

• Faster penetration in last-mile markets.

• Better repayment rates and community trust.

• Creation of local jobs, particularly for young women.

However, these models remain undercapitalized and outside formal policy support. Scaling such efforts requires tailored financing and regulatory facilitation.

Reconstructing Policy Architecture: A Four-Pillar Framework

To move from rhetoric to reality, we propose a practical, cross-cutting policy framework grounded in four interlocking pillars:

Pillar 1: Institutional Mandates for Gender Equity

• Establish gender focal points with decision-making authority in all national energy ministries.

• Require gender impact assessments (GIAs) for every new public energy project.

• Link performance-based incentives to gender equity indicators (e.g., % of women connected, employed, or trained).

Pillar 2: Inclusive Financing Mechanisms

• Develop gender-responsive financing facilities for women-led energy enterprises.

• Introduce results-based financing (RBF) that rewards off-grid providers for reaching female consumers and entrepreneurs.

• Expand credit guarantee schemes for informal women businesses entering energy markets.

Pillar 3: Demand-Centered Infrastructure Design

• Redefine energy demand profiles to include women's domestic and productive uses cooking, agro-processing, textile production.

• Integrate clean cooking and decentralized renewables into national electrification plans not as add-ons, but core components.

• Mandate community-level consultation with female stakeholders during project scoping and location planning.

Pillar 4: Workforce and Leadership Inclusion

• Set quotas for women in technical training, utility internships, and public energy boards.

• Fund STEM education pipelines with scholarships and mentorship programs for girls.

• Institutionalize anti-harassment policies and safe workplace practices in energy institutions.

From Aspirations to Accountability: A Governance and Monitoring Blueprint

Progress on gender and energy cannot be driven by goodwill alone it must be governed.

Key Monitoring Instruments:

• Disaggregated Baseline Data: National Energy Information Systems must report all metrics by gender including access, usage, enterprise engagement, and employment.

• Public Dashboards: Real-time visibility of gender outcomes linked to SDG7 and SDG5.

• Independent Evaluations: Third-party audits of gender commitments across DFIs and government programs.

Transparency drives accountability. And accountability drives reform.

The Role and Impact of WEN-Africa: Structuring Inclusion at Scale

WEN-Africa (Women in Energy Network – Africa) was established as a continental initiative to embed gender equity into the strategic core of Africa’s energy transition. Backed by institutional partners and driven by country-level collaboration, WEN-Africa is reshaping how gender is perceived, planned, and integrated across energy systems.

Key Impact Areas:

• Policy Influence: WEN-Africa works with national utilities and regulatory bodies to incorporate gender-responsive criteria in energy strategies. This includes building institutional capacity to conduct gender audits, impact assessments, and stakeholder dialogues.

• Talent Pipeline Development: Through partnerships with technical institutions and energy ministries, WEN-Africa supports women’s entry into engineering, policy, and technical roles nurturing the next generation of female energy leaders.

• Institutional Commitments: In its first two years, WEN-Africa has facilitated the adoption of gender equity commitments from over 8 national energy institutions including utilities, ministries, and training centers ensuring alignment with both SDG 5 and SDG 7.

• Operational Frameworks: WEN-Africa has developed implementation toolkits for gender mainstreaming at the utility level, including modules on recruitment, performance management, and inclusive workplace practices.

• Pan-African Knowledge Exchange: Through its annual forums and regional roundtables, WEN-Africa is curating a repository of case studies, policy models, and tested approaches that inform government action and donor funding frameworks.

WEN-Africa’s approach is not to “add gender” as an external filter it is to restructure power, participation, and design from the ground up, so that inclusion becomes a natural, measurable, and strategic outcome.

Conclusion: A Just Transition Must Be Gender-Responsive by Design

The African continent has set an ambitious goal: universal energy access by 2025. But that access will remain incomplete and fundamentally unjust if it fails to address the structural disadvantages faced by women and girls.

The solutions are not theoretical. They are practical, proven, and available. What is needed now is a paradigm shift: from gender-blind “infrastructure-first” approaches to equity-first, people-centered energy policy.

Empowering women and girls is not just a moral obligation. It is a multiplier strategy for energy resilience, economic transformation, and inclusive development.

Let Africa’s energy future be built not just with megawatts but with equity, dignity, and opportunity for all.

The conventional metrics of energy access electrification rates, generation capacity, grid expansion do not tell the full story. They paint an incomplete picture that often obscures systemic disparities in how energy is accessed, utilized, and governed, particularly for women and girls.

Sub-Saharan Africa presents one of the most paradoxical energy narratives in the world: a region rich in energy resources solar, hydro, geothermal, and even fossil fuels yet more than two-thirds of its population remains locked out of modern energy systems. Behind this energy poverty lies a deeper, more entrenched injustice: gendered exclusion.

Women and girls, especially in rural and peri-urban areas, are disproportionately burdened by poor energy access. They face daily trade-offs between safety and fuel collection, between economic productivity and domestic obligations, and between educational advancement and exposure to indoor air pollution. The energy transition cannot be considered “just” if these realities remain unaddressed.

This document outlines a systemic strategy to place gender equity at the core of Africa’s energy future not as a parallel goal, but as a fundamental design parameter.

The Gendered Anatomy of Energy Poverty

2.1 Time Poverty and Opportunity Costs

Energy poverty is not just about lack of electricity it is about what people are forced to give up in its absence. For women, this sacrifice is quantifiable:

• An estimated 40 billion hours annually are spent by women and girls collecting firewood and water time that could otherwise be spent on income-generating work, education, or rest.

• In conflict zones, these tasks increase exposure to gender-based violence, making basic energy needs a matter of personal safety.

The opportunity cost of this “time tax” is a critical, yet rarely internalized, component of energy economics in Africa.

2.2 Health Burdens of Traditional Energy Use

Relying on solid biomass for cooking exposes women and children to deadly pollutants. Approximately 600,000 premature deaths occur annually in Africa due to household air pollution, with women accounting for the vast majority. Yet, energy policies continue to prioritize grid connectivity over clean cooking.

This health dimension remains a blind spot in energy infrastructure planning one that not only has public health consequences, but also economic repercussions due to reduced productivity and increased healthcare burdens.

2.3 Economic and Institutional Barriers
Women-headed enterprises face systemic bias in accessing electricity for productive use:

• In Kenya, Ghana, and Zambia, studies indicate that women experience longer delays and face higher informal costs (bribes, red tape) in grid connectivity compared to male counterparts.

• Energy-intensive domestic activities (e.g., agro-processing, textile production) are rarely integrated into infrastructure planning, despite their importance to women-led businesses.

Such barriers limit women’s upward mobility in economic value chains and perpetuate gendered cycles of informality and underinvestment.

3 Beyond Beneficiaries: Reframing Women as Energy Stakeholders

The dominant energy access narrative casts women as passive consumers, reinforcing a cycle of dependency. In reality, women are:

• Key decision-makers in household energy use.

• Informal financiers of energy solutions through savings groups.

• Distributors and retailers in clean energy supply chains.

• Potential micro-producers via solar, biogas, and other decentralised technologies.

Recognizing women as strategic actors not just end-users requires structural shifts in how policies are framed, projects are designed, and capital is allocated.

Institutional Learning: What Has Worked, and Why

4.1 Last Mile Connectivity: Gender in Design, Not Just Delivery

The Last Mile Connectivity Project (Kenya) serves as a model for institutionalizing gender across the project lifecycle:

• A gender analysis was embedded from the conception stage, influencing design criteria and implementation methods.

• Key adaptations included: gender-sensitized utility staff training, female-headed household prioritization, and region-specific community engagement.

• Result: Improved uptake, reduced connection delays, and a significant increase in female household electrification.

The success of this initiative underscores the importance of ex-ante gender integration rather than retrofitted equity measures.

4.2 Women-Led Energy Enterprises: Micro-Innovation with Macro Impact

Small-scale, women-led clean energy businesses using solar kiosks, mobile micro-payments, or pay-as-you-go LPG are demonstrating:

• Faster penetration in last-mile markets.

• Better repayment rates and community trust.

• Creation of local jobs, particularly for young women.

However, these models remain undercapitalized and outside formal policy support. Scaling such efforts requires tailored financing and regulatory facilitation.

Reconstructing Policy Architecture: A Four-Pillar Framework

To move from rhetoric to reality, we propose a practical, cross-cutting policy framework grounded in four interlocking pillars:

Pillar 1: Institutional Mandates for Gender Equity

• Establish gender focal points with decision-making authority in all national energy ministries.

• Require gender impact assessments (GIAs) for every new public energy project.

• Link performance-based incentives to gender equity indicators (e.g., % of women connected, employed, or trained).

Pillar 2: Inclusive Financing Mechanisms

• Develop gender-responsive financing facilities for women-led energy enterprises.

• Introduce results-based financing (RBF) that rewards off-grid providers for reaching female consumers and entrepreneurs.

• Expand credit guarantee schemes for informal women businesses entering energy markets.

Pillar 3: Demand-Centered Infrastructure Design

• Redefine energy demand profiles to include women's domestic and productive uses cooking, agro-processing, textile production.

• Integrate clean cooking and decentralized renewables into national electrification plans not as add-ons, but core components.

• Mandate community-level consultation with female stakeholders during project scoping and location planning.

Pillar 4: Workforce and Leadership Inclusion

• Set quotas for women in technical training, utility internships, and public energy boards.

• Fund STEM education pipelines with scholarships and mentorship programs for girls.

• Institutionalize anti-harassment policies and safe workplace practices in energy institutions.

From Aspirations to Accountability: A Governance and Monitoring Blueprint

Progress on gender and energy cannot be driven by goodwill alone it must be governed.

Key Monitoring Instruments:

• Disaggregated Baseline Data: National Energy Information Systems must report all metrics by gender including access, usage, enterprise engagement, and employment.

• Public Dashboards: Real-time visibility of gender outcomes linked to SDG7 and SDG5.

• Independent Evaluations: Third-party audits of gender commitments across DFIs and government programs.

Transparency drives accountability. And accountability drives reform.

The Role and Impact of WEN-Africa: Structuring Inclusion at Scale

WEN-Africa (Women in Energy Network – Africa) was established as a continental initiative to embed gender equity into the strategic core of Africa’s energy transition. Backed by institutional partners and driven by country-level collaboration, WEN-Africa is reshaping how gender is perceived, planned, and integrated across energy systems.

Key Impact Areas:

• Policy Influence: WEN-Africa works with national utilities and regulatory bodies to incorporate gender-responsive criteria in energy strategies. This includes building institutional capacity to conduct gender audits, impact assessments, and stakeholder dialogues.

• Talent Pipeline Development: Through partnerships with technical institutions and energy ministries, WEN-Africa supports women’s entry into engineering, policy, and technical roles nurturing the next generation of female energy leaders.

• Institutional Commitments: In its first two years, WEN-Africa has facilitated the adoption of gender equity commitments from over 8 national energy institutions including utilities, ministries, and training centers ensuring alignment with both SDG 5 and SDG 7.

• Operational Frameworks: WEN-Africa has developed implementation toolkits for gender mainstreaming at the utility level, including modules on recruitment, performance management, and inclusive workplace practices.

• Pan-African Knowledge Exchange: Through its annual forums and regional roundtables, WEN-Africa is curating a repository of case studies, policy models, and tested approaches that inform government action and donor funding frameworks.

WEN-Africa’s approach is not to “add gender” as an external filter it is to restructure power, participation, and design from the ground up, so that inclusion becomes a natural, measurable, and strategic outcome.

Conclusion: A Just Transition Must Be Gender-Responsive by Design

The African continent has set an ambitious goal: universal energy access by 2025. But that access will remain incomplete and fundamentally unjust if it fails to address the structural disadvantages faced by women and girls.

The solutions are not theoretical. They are practical, proven, and available. What is needed now is a paradigm shift: from gender-blind “infrastructure-first” approaches to equity-first, people-centered energy policy.

Empowering women and girls is not just a moral obligation. It is a multiplier strategy for energy resilience, economic transformation, and inclusive development.

Let Africa’s energy future be built not just with megawatts but with equity, dignity, and opportunity for all.

The conventional metrics of energy access electrification rates, generation capacity, grid expansion do not tell the full story. They paint an incomplete picture that often obscures systemic disparities in how energy is accessed, utilized, and governed, particularly for women and girls.

Sub-Saharan Africa presents one of the most paradoxical energy narratives in the world: a region rich in energy resources solar, hydro, geothermal, and even fossil fuels yet more than two-thirds of its population remains locked out of modern energy systems. Behind this energy poverty lies a deeper, more entrenched injustice: gendered exclusion.

Women and girls, especially in rural and peri-urban areas, are disproportionately burdened by poor energy access. They face daily trade-offs between safety and fuel collection, between economic productivity and domestic obligations, and between educational advancement and exposure to indoor air pollution. The energy transition cannot be considered “just” if these realities remain unaddressed.

This document outlines a systemic strategy to place gender equity at the core of Africa’s energy future not as a parallel goal, but as a fundamental design parameter.

The Gendered Anatomy of Energy Poverty

2.1 Time Poverty and Opportunity Costs

Energy poverty is not just about lack of electricity it is about what people are forced to give up in its absence. For women, this sacrifice is quantifiable:

• An estimated 40 billion hours annually are spent by women and girls collecting firewood and water time that could otherwise be spent on income-generating work, education, or rest.

• In conflict zones, these tasks increase exposure to gender-based violence, making basic energy needs a matter of personal safety.

The opportunity cost of this “time tax” is a critical, yet rarely internalized, component of energy economics in Africa.

2.2 Health Burdens of Traditional Energy Use

Relying on solid biomass for cooking exposes women and children to deadly pollutants. Approximately 600,000 premature deaths occur annually in Africa due to household air pollution, with women accounting for the vast majority. Yet, energy policies continue to prioritize grid connectivity over clean cooking.

This health dimension remains a blind spot in energy infrastructure planning one that not only has public health consequences, but also economic repercussions due to reduced productivity and increased healthcare burdens.

2.3 Economic and Institutional Barriers
Women-headed enterprises face systemic bias in accessing electricity for productive use:

• In Kenya, Ghana, and Zambia, studies indicate that women experience longer delays and face higher informal costs (bribes, red tape) in grid connectivity compared to male counterparts.

• Energy-intensive domestic activities (e.g., agro-processing, textile production) are rarely integrated into infrastructure planning, despite their importance to women-led businesses.

Such barriers limit women’s upward mobility in economic value chains and perpetuate gendered cycles of informality and underinvestment.

3 Beyond Beneficiaries: Reframing Women as Energy Stakeholders

The dominant energy access narrative casts women as passive consumers, reinforcing a cycle of dependency. In reality, women are:

• Key decision-makers in household energy use.

• Informal financiers of energy solutions through savings groups.

• Distributors and retailers in clean energy supply chains.

• Potential micro-producers via solar, biogas, and other decentralised technologies.

Recognizing women as strategic actors not just end-users requires structural shifts in how policies are framed, projects are designed, and capital is allocated.

Institutional Learning: What Has Worked, and Why

4.1 Last Mile Connectivity: Gender in Design, Not Just Delivery

The Last Mile Connectivity Project (Kenya) serves as a model for institutionalizing gender across the project lifecycle:

• A gender analysis was embedded from the conception stage, influencing design criteria and implementation methods.

• Key adaptations included: gender-sensitized utility staff training, female-headed household prioritization, and region-specific community engagement.

• Result: Improved uptake, reduced connection delays, and a significant increase in female household electrification.

The success of this initiative underscores the importance of ex-ante gender integration rather than retrofitted equity measures.

4.2 Women-Led Energy Enterprises: Micro-Innovation with Macro Impact

Small-scale, women-led clean energy businesses using solar kiosks, mobile micro-payments, or pay-as-you-go LPG are demonstrating:

• Faster penetration in last-mile markets.

• Better repayment rates and community trust.

• Creation of local jobs, particularly for young women.

However, these models remain undercapitalized and outside formal policy support. Scaling such efforts requires tailored financing and regulatory facilitation.

Reconstructing Policy Architecture: A Four-Pillar Framework

To move from rhetoric to reality, we propose a practical, cross-cutting policy framework grounded in four interlocking pillars:

Pillar 1: Institutional Mandates for Gender Equity

• Establish gender focal points with decision-making authority in all national energy ministries.

• Require gender impact assessments (GIAs) for every new public energy project.

• Link performance-based incentives to gender equity indicators (e.g., % of women connected, employed, or trained).

Pillar 2: Inclusive Financing Mechanisms

• Develop gender-responsive financing facilities for women-led energy enterprises.

• Introduce results-based financing (RBF) that rewards off-grid providers for reaching female consumers and entrepreneurs.

• Expand credit guarantee schemes for informal women businesses entering energy markets.

Pillar 3: Demand-Centered Infrastructure Design

• Redefine energy demand profiles to include women's domestic and productive uses cooking, agro-processing, textile production.

• Integrate clean cooking and decentralized renewables into national electrification plans not as add-ons, but core components.

• Mandate community-level consultation with female stakeholders during project scoping and location planning.

Pillar 4: Workforce and Leadership Inclusion

• Set quotas for women in technical training, utility internships, and public energy boards.

• Fund STEM education pipelines with scholarships and mentorship programs for girls.

• Institutionalize anti-harassment policies and safe workplace practices in energy institutions.

From Aspirations to Accountability: A Governance and Monitoring Blueprint

Progress on gender and energy cannot be driven by goodwill alone it must be governed.

Key Monitoring Instruments:

• Disaggregated Baseline Data: National Energy Information Systems must report all metrics by gender including access, usage, enterprise engagement, and employment.

• Public Dashboards: Real-time visibility of gender outcomes linked to SDG7 and SDG5.

• Independent Evaluations: Third-party audits of gender commitments across DFIs and government programs.

Transparency drives accountability. And accountability drives reform.

The Role and Impact of WEN-Africa: Structuring Inclusion at Scale

WEN-Africa (Women in Energy Network – Africa) was established as a continental initiative to embed gender equity into the strategic core of Africa’s energy transition. Backed by institutional partners and driven by country-level collaboration, WEN-Africa is reshaping how gender is perceived, planned, and integrated across energy systems.

Key Impact Areas:

• Policy Influence: WEN-Africa works with national utilities and regulatory bodies to incorporate gender-responsive criteria in energy strategies. This includes building institutional capacity to conduct gender audits, impact assessments, and stakeholder dialogues.

• Talent Pipeline Development: Through partnerships with technical institutions and energy ministries, WEN-Africa supports women’s entry into engineering, policy, and technical roles nurturing the next generation of female energy leaders.

• Institutional Commitments: In its first two years, WEN-Africa has facilitated the adoption of gender equity commitments from over 8 national energy institutions including utilities, ministries, and training centers ensuring alignment with both SDG 5 and SDG 7.

• Operational Frameworks: WEN-Africa has developed implementation toolkits for gender mainstreaming at the utility level, including modules on recruitment, performance management, and inclusive workplace practices.

• Pan-African Knowledge Exchange: Through its annual forums and regional roundtables, WEN-Africa is curating a repository of case studies, policy models, and tested approaches that inform government action and donor funding frameworks.

WEN-Africa’s approach is not to “add gender” as an external filter it is to restructure power, participation, and design from the ground up, so that inclusion becomes a natural, measurable, and strategic outcome.

Conclusion: A Just Transition Must Be Gender-Responsive by Design

The African continent has set an ambitious goal: universal energy access by 2025. But that access will remain incomplete and fundamentally unjust if it fails to address the structural disadvantages faced by women and girls.

The solutions are not theoretical. They are practical, proven, and available. What is needed now is a paradigm shift: from gender-blind “infrastructure-first” approaches to equity-first, people-centered energy policy.

Empowering women and girls is not just a moral obligation. It is a multiplier strategy for energy resilience, economic transformation, and inclusive development.

Let Africa’s energy future be built not just with megawatts but with equity, dignity, and opportunity for all.

The conventional metrics of energy access electrification rates, generation capacity, grid expansion do not tell the full story. They paint an incomplete picture that often obscures systemic disparities in how energy is accessed, utilized, and governed, particularly for women and girls.

Sub-Saharan Africa presents one of the most paradoxical energy narratives in the world: a region rich in energy resources solar, hydro, geothermal, and even fossil fuels yet more than two-thirds of its population remains locked out of modern energy systems. Behind this energy poverty lies a deeper, more entrenched injustice: gendered exclusion.

Women and girls, especially in rural and peri-urban areas, are disproportionately burdened by poor energy access. They face daily trade-offs between safety and fuel collection, between economic productivity and domestic obligations, and between educational advancement and exposure to indoor air pollution. The energy transition cannot be considered “just” if these realities remain unaddressed.

This document outlines a systemic strategy to place gender equity at the core of Africa’s energy future not as a parallel goal, but as a fundamental design parameter.

The Gendered Anatomy of Energy Poverty

2.1 Time Poverty and Opportunity Costs

Energy poverty is not just about lack of electricity it is about what people are forced to give up in its absence. For women, this sacrifice is quantifiable:

• An estimated 40 billion hours annually are spent by women and girls collecting firewood and water time that could otherwise be spent on income-generating work, education, or rest.

• In conflict zones, these tasks increase exposure to gender-based violence, making basic energy needs a matter of personal safety.

The opportunity cost of this “time tax” is a critical, yet rarely internalized, component of energy economics in Africa.

2.2 Health Burdens of Traditional Energy Use

Relying on solid biomass for cooking exposes women and children to deadly pollutants. Approximately 600,000 premature deaths occur annually in Africa due to household air pollution, with women accounting for the vast majority. Yet, energy policies continue to prioritize grid connectivity over clean cooking.

This health dimension remains a blind spot in energy infrastructure planning one that not only has public health consequences, but also economic repercussions due to reduced productivity and increased healthcare burdens.

2.3 Economic and Institutional Barriers
Women-headed enterprises face systemic bias in accessing electricity for productive use:

• In Kenya, Ghana, and Zambia, studies indicate that women experience longer delays and face higher informal costs (bribes, red tape) in grid connectivity compared to male counterparts.

• Energy-intensive domestic activities (e.g., agro-processing, textile production) are rarely integrated into infrastructure planning, despite their importance to women-led businesses.

Such barriers limit women’s upward mobility in economic value chains and perpetuate gendered cycles of informality and underinvestment.

3 Beyond Beneficiaries: Reframing Women as Energy Stakeholders

The dominant energy access narrative casts women as passive consumers, reinforcing a cycle of dependency. In reality, women are:

• Key decision-makers in household energy use.

• Informal financiers of energy solutions through savings groups.

• Distributors and retailers in clean energy supply chains.

• Potential micro-producers via solar, biogas, and other decentralised technologies.

Recognizing women as strategic actors not just end-users requires structural shifts in how policies are framed, projects are designed, and capital is allocated.

Institutional Learning: What Has Worked, and Why

4.1 Last Mile Connectivity: Gender in Design, Not Just Delivery

The Last Mile Connectivity Project (Kenya) serves as a model for institutionalizing gender across the project lifecycle:

• A gender analysis was embedded from the conception stage, influencing design criteria and implementation methods.

• Key adaptations included: gender-sensitized utility staff training, female-headed household prioritization, and region-specific community engagement.

• Result: Improved uptake, reduced connection delays, and a significant increase in female household electrification.

The success of this initiative underscores the importance of ex-ante gender integration rather than retrofitted equity measures.

4.2 Women-Led Energy Enterprises: Micro-Innovation with Macro Impact

Small-scale, women-led clean energy businesses using solar kiosks, mobile micro-payments, or pay-as-you-go LPG are demonstrating:

• Faster penetration in last-mile markets.

• Better repayment rates and community trust.

• Creation of local jobs, particularly for young women.

However, these models remain undercapitalized and outside formal policy support. Scaling such efforts requires tailored financing and regulatory facilitation.

Reconstructing Policy Architecture: A Four-Pillar Framework

To move from rhetoric to reality, we propose a practical, cross-cutting policy framework grounded in four interlocking pillars:

Pillar 1: Institutional Mandates for Gender Equity

• Establish gender focal points with decision-making authority in all national energy ministries.

• Require gender impact assessments (GIAs) for every new public energy project.

• Link performance-based incentives to gender equity indicators (e.g., % of women connected, employed, or trained).

Pillar 2: Inclusive Financing Mechanisms

• Develop gender-responsive financing facilities for women-led energy enterprises.

• Introduce results-based financing (RBF) that rewards off-grid providers for reaching female consumers and entrepreneurs.

• Expand credit guarantee schemes for informal women businesses entering energy markets.

Pillar 3: Demand-Centered Infrastructure Design

• Redefine energy demand profiles to include women's domestic and productive uses cooking, agro-processing, textile production.

• Integrate clean cooking and decentralized renewables into national electrification plans not as add-ons, but core components.

• Mandate community-level consultation with female stakeholders during project scoping and location planning.

Pillar 4: Workforce and Leadership Inclusion

• Set quotas for women in technical training, utility internships, and public energy boards.

• Fund STEM education pipelines with scholarships and mentorship programs for girls.

• Institutionalize anti-harassment policies and safe workplace practices in energy institutions.

From Aspirations to Accountability: A Governance and Monitoring Blueprint

Progress on gender and energy cannot be driven by goodwill alone it must be governed.

Key Monitoring Instruments:

• Disaggregated Baseline Data: National Energy Information Systems must report all metrics by gender including access, usage, enterprise engagement, and employment.

• Public Dashboards: Real-time visibility of gender outcomes linked to SDG7 and SDG5.

• Independent Evaluations: Third-party audits of gender commitments across DFIs and government programs.

Transparency drives accountability. And accountability drives reform.

The Role and Impact of WEN-Africa: Structuring Inclusion at Scale

WEN-Africa (Women in Energy Network – Africa) was established as a continental initiative to embed gender equity into the strategic core of Africa’s energy transition. Backed by institutional partners and driven by country-level collaboration, WEN-Africa is reshaping how gender is perceived, planned, and integrated across energy systems.

Key Impact Areas:

• Policy Influence: WEN-Africa works with national utilities and regulatory bodies to incorporate gender-responsive criteria in energy strategies. This includes building institutional capacity to conduct gender audits, impact assessments, and stakeholder dialogues.

• Talent Pipeline Development: Through partnerships with technical institutions and energy ministries, WEN-Africa supports women’s entry into engineering, policy, and technical roles nurturing the next generation of female energy leaders.

• Institutional Commitments: In its first two years, WEN-Africa has facilitated the adoption of gender equity commitments from over 8 national energy institutions including utilities, ministries, and training centers ensuring alignment with both SDG 5 and SDG 7.

• Operational Frameworks: WEN-Africa has developed implementation toolkits for gender mainstreaming at the utility level, including modules on recruitment, performance management, and inclusive workplace practices.

• Pan-African Knowledge Exchange: Through its annual forums and regional roundtables, WEN-Africa is curating a repository of case studies, policy models, and tested approaches that inform government action and donor funding frameworks.

WEN-Africa’s approach is not to “add gender” as an external filter it is to restructure power, participation, and design from the ground up, so that inclusion becomes a natural, measurable, and strategic outcome.

Conclusion: A Just Transition Must Be Gender-Responsive by Design

The African continent has set an ambitious goal: universal energy access by 2025. But that access will remain incomplete and fundamentally unjust if it fails to address the structural disadvantages faced by women and girls.

The solutions are not theoretical. They are practical, proven, and available. What is needed now is a paradigm shift: from gender-blind “infrastructure-first” approaches to equity-first, people-centered energy policy.

Empowering women and girls is not just a moral obligation. It is a multiplier strategy for energy resilience, economic transformation, and inclusive development.

Let Africa’s energy future be built not just with megawatts but with equity, dignity, and opportunity for all.

The conventional metrics of energy access electrification rates, generation capacity, grid expansion do not tell the full story. They paint an incomplete picture that often obscures systemic disparities in how energy is accessed, utilized, and governed, particularly for women and girls.

Sub-Saharan Africa presents one of the most paradoxical energy narratives in the world: a region rich in energy resources solar, hydro, geothermal, and even fossil fuels yet more than two-thirds of its population remains locked out of modern energy systems. Behind this energy poverty lies a deeper, more entrenched injustice: gendered exclusion.

Women and girls, especially in rural and peri-urban areas, are disproportionately burdened by poor energy access. They face daily trade-offs between safety and fuel collection, between economic productivity and domestic obligations, and between educational advancement and exposure to indoor air pollution. The energy transition cannot be considered “just” if these realities remain unaddressed.

This document outlines a systemic strategy to place gender equity at the core of Africa’s energy future not as a parallel goal, but as a fundamental design parameter.

The Gendered Anatomy of Energy Poverty

2.1 Time Poverty and Opportunity Costs

Energy poverty is not just about lack of electricity it is about what people are forced to give up in its absence. For women, this sacrifice is quantifiable:

• An estimated 40 billion hours annually are spent by women and girls collecting firewood and water time that could otherwise be spent on income-generating work, education, or rest.

• In conflict zones, these tasks increase exposure to gender-based violence, making basic energy needs a matter of personal safety.

The opportunity cost of this “time tax” is a critical, yet rarely internalized, component of energy economics in Africa.

2.2 Health Burdens of Traditional Energy Use

Relying on solid biomass for cooking exposes women and children to deadly pollutants. Approximately 600,000 premature deaths occur annually in Africa due to household air pollution, with women accounting for the vast majority. Yet, energy policies continue to prioritize grid connectivity over clean cooking.

This health dimension remains a blind spot in energy infrastructure planning one that not only has public health consequences, but also economic repercussions due to reduced productivity and increased healthcare burdens.

2.3 Economic and Institutional Barriers
Women-headed enterprises face systemic bias in accessing electricity for productive use:

• In Kenya, Ghana, and Zambia, studies indicate that women experience longer delays and face higher informal costs (bribes, red tape) in grid connectivity compared to male counterparts.

• Energy-intensive domestic activities (e.g., agro-processing, textile production) are rarely integrated into infrastructure planning, despite their importance to women-led businesses.

Such barriers limit women’s upward mobility in economic value chains and perpetuate gendered cycles of informality and underinvestment.

3 Beyond Beneficiaries: Reframing Women as Energy Stakeholders

The dominant energy access narrative casts women as passive consumers, reinforcing a cycle of dependency. In reality, women are:

• Key decision-makers in household energy use.

• Informal financiers of energy solutions through savings groups.

• Distributors and retailers in clean energy supply chains.

• Potential micro-producers via solar, biogas, and other decentralised technologies.

Recognizing women as strategic actors not just end-users requires structural shifts in how policies are framed, projects are designed, and capital is allocated.

Institutional Learning: What Has Worked, and Why

4.1 Last Mile Connectivity: Gender in Design, Not Just Delivery

The Last Mile Connectivity Project (Kenya) serves as a model for institutionalizing gender across the project lifecycle:

• A gender analysis was embedded from the conception stage, influencing design criteria and implementation methods.

• Key adaptations included: gender-sensitized utility staff training, female-headed household prioritization, and region-specific community engagement.

• Result: Improved uptake, reduced connection delays, and a significant increase in female household electrification.

The success of this initiative underscores the importance of ex-ante gender integration rather than retrofitted equity measures.

4.2 Women-Led Energy Enterprises: Micro-Innovation with Macro Impact

Small-scale, women-led clean energy businesses using solar kiosks, mobile micro-payments, or pay-as-you-go LPG are demonstrating:

• Faster penetration in last-mile markets.

• Better repayment rates and community trust.

• Creation of local jobs, particularly for young women.

However, these models remain undercapitalized and outside formal policy support. Scaling such efforts requires tailored financing and regulatory facilitation.

Reconstructing Policy Architecture: A Four-Pillar Framework

To move from rhetoric to reality, we propose a practical, cross-cutting policy framework grounded in four interlocking pillars:

Pillar 1: Institutional Mandates for Gender Equity

• Establish gender focal points with decision-making authority in all national energy ministries.

• Require gender impact assessments (GIAs) for every new public energy project.

• Link performance-based incentives to gender equity indicators (e.g., % of women connected, employed, or trained).

Pillar 2: Inclusive Financing Mechanisms

• Develop gender-responsive financing facilities for women-led energy enterprises.

• Introduce results-based financing (RBF) that rewards off-grid providers for reaching female consumers and entrepreneurs.

• Expand credit guarantee schemes for informal women businesses entering energy markets.

Pillar 3: Demand-Centered Infrastructure Design

• Redefine energy demand profiles to include women's domestic and productive uses cooking, agro-processing, textile production.

• Integrate clean cooking and decentralized renewables into national electrification plans not as add-ons, but core components.

• Mandate community-level consultation with female stakeholders during project scoping and location planning.

Pillar 4: Workforce and Leadership Inclusion

• Set quotas for women in technical training, utility internships, and public energy boards.

• Fund STEM education pipelines with scholarships and mentorship programs for girls.

• Institutionalize anti-harassment policies and safe workplace practices in energy institutions.

From Aspirations to Accountability: A Governance and Monitoring Blueprint

Progress on gender and energy cannot be driven by goodwill alone it must be governed.

Key Monitoring Instruments:

• Disaggregated Baseline Data: National Energy Information Systems must report all metrics by gender including access, usage, enterprise engagement, and employment.

• Public Dashboards: Real-time visibility of gender outcomes linked to SDG7 and SDG5.

• Independent Evaluations: Third-party audits of gender commitments across DFIs and government programs.

Transparency drives accountability. And accountability drives reform.

The Role and Impact of WEN-Africa: Structuring Inclusion at Scale

WEN-Africa (Women in Energy Network – Africa) was established as a continental initiative to embed gender equity into the strategic core of Africa’s energy transition. Backed by institutional partners and driven by country-level collaboration, WEN-Africa is reshaping how gender is perceived, planned, and integrated across energy systems.

Key Impact Areas:

• Policy Influence: WEN-Africa works with national utilities and regulatory bodies to incorporate gender-responsive criteria in energy strategies. This includes building institutional capacity to conduct gender audits, impact assessments, and stakeholder dialogues.

• Talent Pipeline Development: Through partnerships with technical institutions and energy ministries, WEN-Africa supports women’s entry into engineering, policy, and technical roles nurturing the next generation of female energy leaders.

• Institutional Commitments: In its first two years, WEN-Africa has facilitated the adoption of gender equity commitments from over 8 national energy institutions including utilities, ministries, and training centers ensuring alignment with both SDG 5 and SDG 7.

• Operational Frameworks: WEN-Africa has developed implementation toolkits for gender mainstreaming at the utility level, including modules on recruitment, performance management, and inclusive workplace practices.

• Pan-African Knowledge Exchange: Through its annual forums and regional roundtables, WEN-Africa is curating a repository of case studies, policy models, and tested approaches that inform government action and donor funding frameworks.

WEN-Africa’s approach is not to “add gender” as an external filter it is to restructure power, participation, and design from the ground up, so that inclusion becomes a natural, measurable, and strategic outcome.

Conclusion: A Just Transition Must Be Gender-Responsive by Design

The African continent has set an ambitious goal: universal energy access by 2025. But that access will remain incomplete and fundamentally unjust if it fails to address the structural disadvantages faced by women and girls.

The solutions are not theoretical. They are practical, proven, and available. What is needed now is a paradigm shift: from gender-blind “infrastructure-first” approaches to equity-first, people-centered energy policy.

Empowering women and girls is not just a moral obligation. It is a multiplier strategy for energy resilience, economic transformation, and inclusive development.

Let Africa’s energy future be built not just with megawatts but with equity, dignity, and opportunity for all.

The conventional metrics of energy access electrification rates, generation capacity, grid expansion do not tell the full story. They paint an incomplete picture that often obscures systemic disparities in how energy is accessed, utilized, and governed, particularly for women and girls.

Sub-Saharan Africa presents one of the most paradoxical energy narratives in the world: a region rich in energy resources solar, hydro, geothermal, and even fossil fuels yet more than two-thirds of its population remains locked out of modern energy systems. Behind this energy poverty lies a deeper, more entrenched injustice: gendered exclusion.

Women and girls, especially in rural and peri-urban areas, are disproportionately burdened by poor energy access. They face daily trade-offs between safety and fuel collection, between economic productivity and domestic obligations, and between educational advancement and exposure to indoor air pollution. The energy transition cannot be considered “just” if these realities remain unaddressed.

This document outlines a systemic strategy to place gender equity at the core of Africa’s energy future not as a parallel goal, but as a fundamental design parameter.

The Gendered Anatomy of Energy Poverty

2.1 Time Poverty and Opportunity Costs

Energy poverty is not just about lack of electricity it is about what people are forced to give up in its absence. For women, this sacrifice is quantifiable:

• An estimated 40 billion hours annually are spent by women and girls collecting firewood and water time that could otherwise be spent on income-generating work, education, or rest.

• In conflict zones, these tasks increase exposure to gender-based violence, making basic energy needs a matter of personal safety.

The opportunity cost of this “time tax” is a critical, yet rarely internalized, component of energy economics in Africa.

2.2 Health Burdens of Traditional Energy Use

Relying on solid biomass for cooking exposes women and children to deadly pollutants. Approximately 600,000 premature deaths occur annually in Africa due to household air pollution, with women accounting for the vast majority. Yet, energy policies continue to prioritize grid connectivity over clean cooking.

This health dimension remains a blind spot in energy infrastructure planning one that not only has public health consequences, but also economic repercussions due to reduced productivity and increased healthcare burdens.

2.3 Economic and Institutional Barriers
Women-headed enterprises face systemic bias in accessing electricity for productive use:

• In Kenya, Ghana, and Zambia, studies indicate that women experience longer delays and face higher informal costs (bribes, red tape) in grid connectivity compared to male counterparts.

• Energy-intensive domestic activities (e.g., agro-processing, textile production) are rarely integrated into infrastructure planning, despite their importance to women-led businesses.

Such barriers limit women’s upward mobility in economic value chains and perpetuate gendered cycles of informality and underinvestment.

3 Beyond Beneficiaries: Reframing Women as Energy Stakeholders

The dominant energy access narrative casts women as passive consumers, reinforcing a cycle of dependency. In reality, women are:

• Key decision-makers in household energy use.

• Informal financiers of energy solutions through savings groups.

• Distributors and retailers in clean energy supply chains.

• Potential micro-producers via solar, biogas, and other decentralised technologies.

Recognizing women as strategic actors not just end-users requires structural shifts in how policies are framed, projects are designed, and capital is allocated.

Institutional Learning: What Has Worked, and Why

4.1 Last Mile Connectivity: Gender in Design, Not Just Delivery

The Last Mile Connectivity Project (Kenya) serves as a model for institutionalizing gender across the project lifecycle:

• A gender analysis was embedded from the conception stage, influencing design criteria and implementation methods.

• Key adaptations included: gender-sensitized utility staff training, female-headed household prioritization, and region-specific community engagement.

• Result: Improved uptake, reduced connection delays, and a significant increase in female household electrification.

The success of this initiative underscores the importance of ex-ante gender integration rather than retrofitted equity measures.

4.2 Women-Led Energy Enterprises: Micro-Innovation with Macro Impact

Small-scale, women-led clean energy businesses using solar kiosks, mobile micro-payments, or pay-as-you-go LPG are demonstrating:

• Faster penetration in last-mile markets.

• Better repayment rates and community trust.

• Creation of local jobs, particularly for young women.

However, these models remain undercapitalized and outside formal policy support. Scaling such efforts requires tailored financing and regulatory facilitation.

Reconstructing Policy Architecture: A Four-Pillar Framework

To move from rhetoric to reality, we propose a practical, cross-cutting policy framework grounded in four interlocking pillars:

Pillar 1: Institutional Mandates for Gender Equity

• Establish gender focal points with decision-making authority in all national energy ministries.

• Require gender impact assessments (GIAs) for every new public energy project.

• Link performance-based incentives to gender equity indicators (e.g., % of women connected, employed, or trained).

Pillar 2: Inclusive Financing Mechanisms

• Develop gender-responsive financing facilities for women-led energy enterprises.

• Introduce results-based financing (RBF) that rewards off-grid providers for reaching female consumers and entrepreneurs.

• Expand credit guarantee schemes for informal women businesses entering energy markets.

Pillar 3: Demand-Centered Infrastructure Design

• Redefine energy demand profiles to include women's domestic and productive uses cooking, agro-processing, textile production.

• Integrate clean cooking and decentralized renewables into national electrification plans not as add-ons, but core components.

• Mandate community-level consultation with female stakeholders during project scoping and location planning.

Pillar 4: Workforce and Leadership Inclusion

• Set quotas for women in technical training, utility internships, and public energy boards.

• Fund STEM education pipelines with scholarships and mentorship programs for girls.

• Institutionalize anti-harassment policies and safe workplace practices in energy institutions.

From Aspirations to Accountability: A Governance and Monitoring Blueprint

Progress on gender and energy cannot be driven by goodwill alone it must be governed.

Key Monitoring Instruments:

• Disaggregated Baseline Data: National Energy Information Systems must report all metrics by gender including access, usage, enterprise engagement, and employment.

• Public Dashboards: Real-time visibility of gender outcomes linked to SDG7 and SDG5.

• Independent Evaluations: Third-party audits of gender commitments across DFIs and government programs.

Transparency drives accountability. And accountability drives reform.

The Role and Impact of WEN-Africa: Structuring Inclusion at Scale

WEN-Africa (Women in Energy Network – Africa) was established as a continental initiative to embed gender equity into the strategic core of Africa’s energy transition. Backed by institutional partners and driven by country-level collaboration, WEN-Africa is reshaping how gender is perceived, planned, and integrated across energy systems.

Key Impact Areas:

• Policy Influence: WEN-Africa works with national utilities and regulatory bodies to incorporate gender-responsive criteria in energy strategies. This includes building institutional capacity to conduct gender audits, impact assessments, and stakeholder dialogues.

• Talent Pipeline Development: Through partnerships with technical institutions and energy ministries, WEN-Africa supports women’s entry into engineering, policy, and technical roles nurturing the next generation of female energy leaders.

• Institutional Commitments: In its first two years, WEN-Africa has facilitated the adoption of gender equity commitments from over 8 national energy institutions including utilities, ministries, and training centers ensuring alignment with both SDG 5 and SDG 7.

• Operational Frameworks: WEN-Africa has developed implementation toolkits for gender mainstreaming at the utility level, including modules on recruitment, performance management, and inclusive workplace practices.

• Pan-African Knowledge Exchange: Through its annual forums and regional roundtables, WEN-Africa is curating a repository of case studies, policy models, and tested approaches that inform government action and donor funding frameworks.

WEN-Africa’s approach is not to “add gender” as an external filter it is to restructure power, participation, and design from the ground up, so that inclusion becomes a natural, measurable, and strategic outcome.

Conclusion: A Just Transition Must Be Gender-Responsive by Design

The African continent has set an ambitious goal: universal energy access by 2025. But that access will remain incomplete and fundamentally unjust if it fails to address the structural disadvantages faced by women and girls.

The solutions are not theoretical. They are practical, proven, and available. What is needed now is a paradigm shift: from gender-blind “infrastructure-first” approaches to equity-first, people-centered energy policy.

Empowering women and girls is not just a moral obligation. It is a multiplier strategy for energy resilience, economic transformation, and inclusive development.

Let Africa’s energy future be built not just with megawatts but with equity, dignity, and opportunity for all.