Wednesday April 5

16:45 – 17:45

ENERGIA Partner Working Session
“Leveraging efforts for scaling energy access though women centric business models”

Over the last few years, a number innovative business models around women’s energy entrepreneurship have gained traction. Private companies, social enterprises, NGOs and large conglomerates are finding it profitable to engage women (and their networks) as part of the workforce in promotion, sale, servicing, and financing of modern lighting and cooking devices and in off-grid electrification solutions, as well as in leadership positions in energy sector organizations.

The session will bring together some of the key players from major partnerships working on women’s energy entrepreneurship, as well as practitioners and research to discuss the success and value addition of such business models and the way forward to applying such approaches at scale, potential benefits and the investments required to do so.

Panellists:

• Neha Misra, Co-founder and Chief Collaboration Officer, Solar Sister
• Radha Mutthiah, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
• Linda Davis, Director of Partnerships at the Partnership on Women’s Entrepreneurship in Renewables (wPOWER) wPOWER Hub (Wangari Mathai Institute)
• Ram Prasad Dhital, Executive Director, Alternative Energy promotion centre, Government of Nepal
• Manuel Barron, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Universidad del Pacífico and Research Associate, EPRU/EfD, University of Cape Town

Moderator: Soma Dutta, Programme Coordinator, Women’s Economic Empowerment Programme, ENERGIA

Wednesday April 5

13:15 – 14:00
The ENERGIA Women Entrepreneurship Award Ceremony and press conference in the SDG Media zone.

ENERGIA and partners work with over 3,500 women entrepreneurs to become profitable energy suppliers in hard to reach areas in Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Senegal and Tanzania. This year, we have awarded five of these entrepreneurs for excelling in their efforts to manage a sustainable business and contribute to making changes in people’s lives and their community. During the Award Ceremony these women will be honoured and will share their inspiring story.

Read here more about the winners