African women and youths are expected to gain access to jobs, investment and business opportunities as African governments and energy-sector stakeholders prepare for a summit in Malawi aimed at linking electricity expansion with economic growth.
The inaugural Global Women and Youth in Energy and STEM Summit 2026 will hold on November 3 and 4 at the Bingu International Convention Centre, Umodzi Park, Lilongwe, Malawi.
According to a statement issued to journalists on Tuesday in Abuja, the summit will examine how electricity access can create jobs, support businesses and increase the participation of women and young people in Africa’s energy industry.
Hosted by the Government of Malawi, the summit is convened by RuachRig Energy in partnership with the World Bank Group, the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program, the Africa Gender and Energy Team and Women in Energy Network Africa.
The event has the theme, “From Participation to Power.”
It comes as the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank pursue Mission 300, an initiative targeting electricity access for 300 million people across sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.
However, stakeholders say expanding electricity access must go beyond connecting households to the grid to creating jobs, supporting industries and opening up business opportunities.
The summit will bring together government officials, development finance institutions, electricity utilities, regulators, investors, entrepreneurs and industry leaders to explore ways of translating energy investments into tangible economic benefits.
The Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet of Malawi, Dr Justin Saidi, reaffirmed the government’s support for the gathering, stressing the need to connect energy investments with employment and enterprise development.
He said Malawi was committed to ensuring that energy investments supported productive economic activities while creating opportunities for women and young people across the energy value chain and the science, technology, engineering and mathematics sector.
The government urged ministries, departments and agencies, development partners, private-sector organisations, academic institutions and civil society groups to participate in the summit.
Participating institutions and delegations are expected to include the African Development Bank, Kenya Power, KenGen, KETRACO, TANESCO, Ethiopian Electric Utility, Rwanda Energy Group, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority and Uganda’s Electricity Regulatory Authority.
The summit will also examine how women-led businesses and young entrepreneurs can access financing, technical expertise, procurement opportunities and markets within the energy sector.
Small and medium-sized enterprises could benefit from reliable electricity through improved manufacturing, agricultural processing, cold storage and digital services.
But access to finance, technical skills and contract opportunities remains critical to enabling smaller businesses to participate in energy infrastructure projects.
Fowzia Hassan, Programme Manager for Mission 300 at the World Bank Group, stressed the importance of placing women and young people at the centre of Africa’s energy transformation.
She highlighted the need to connect electricity access with employment, entrepreneurship, skills development and leadership opportunities.
Hassan said collaboration among governments, utilities, development institutions and WEN-Africa could help translate commitments to inclusion into practical economic opportunities.
Similarly, Meskerem Mulatu Legesse, Senior Gender and Energy Specialist at WEN-Africa and the World Bank Group, said meaningful participation required institutions to create conditions that enabled women to advance professionally, assume leadership positions and influence decisions across the energy sector.
She emphasised technical skills development, institutional capacity and career pathways for young women.
A major highlight of the summit will be the planned launch of the Women in Electricity Lab, an initiative designed to promote technical leadership, institutional collaboration and professional opportunities for women in electricity institutions.
Investment and enterprise development will also feature prominently, alongside ministerial discussions, investors’ roundtables, utility and regulatory dialogues, clean cooking, regional energy cooperation, youth innovation and STEM engagement.
The discussions are expected to explore how women-led businesses and emerging project developers can compete for contracts through improved access to financing, technical support and institutional partnerships.
Dorothy Pinyoloya, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RuachRig Energy, said Africa’s energy transformation should be measured not only by the number of households connected to electricity but also by the jobs, businesses and industries that reliable power enables.
She stressed the need to link energy investments with access to capital, contracts and commercial opportunities for women and young people.
Pinyoloya said the summit’s theme reflected an ambition to move beyond representation towards meaningful participation in the decisions, investments and commercial activities shaping Africa’s energy future.
She added that the event’s long-term value would depend on the economic opportunities it unlocked and the partnerships that continued to deliver results beyond the gathering.
The summit aims to strengthen cooperation among governments, investors, utilities, regulators and development finance institutions while expanding opportunities for women and young people across Africa’s energy value chain.
As countries mobilise capital to expand electricity generation, transmission and distribution, stakeholders are expected to explore ways of ensuring that infrastructure investments translate into sustainable jobs, stronger enterprises and wider economic participation.
The challenge, organisers say, is to ensure that Africa’s energy transition delivers not only electricity but also opportunities for women and young people to build businesses, develop careers and participate in the continent’s economic growth.
