GEAPP and Shortlist Launches Program on Renewable Energy Jobs for Women in Africa

The Global Alliance for Energy and the Planet (GEAPP) and the Shortlist, an executive search and talent tech company, have joined hands to create jobs for women in the African renewable energy sector. The recent collaboration between the organizations is expected to create 750 jobs for women in six countries in sub-Saharan Africa

The Shortlist platform plans to better integrate female professionals into clean energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa. The GEAPP, which is a multi-year initiative funded by Rockefeller Foundation, will aid in scaling up the Shortlist’s youth employment program in the clean energy sector.

The partnership launched specifically for women will cover Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, and Sierra Leone. GEAPP and Shortlist will engage other partners to achieve their goals over the next few years. The partners are going to leverage $2.2 million to implement the program that will build on the framework of the Off-Grid Talent Initiative (OGTI).

Launched in 2019 by Shortlist, the OTGI platform has created employment opportunities for more than 100,000 youths in the clean energy sector. The initiative has created 400 jobs in 37 clean energy projects across Africa. The program is backed by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Carbon Trust, and the University of Cape Town.

The program named, Women in Green Jobs, emphasizes a deliberate gender-lens approach to hiring. As a part of the program, the social organization, ‘Value for Women’, will provide gender-focused advisory services to renewable energy employers to improve their HR departments to hire and retain female talents.

Rebecca Fries, Value for Women CEO, said the partnership is a strategic opportunity for women to improve their lives while improving the business bottom line. Value for Women aims to turn aspiration into action for Shortlist and GEAPP, who are looking for triple-bottom-line impacts. 

Paul Breloff, Shortlist CEO, commented, “We’re excited to not just create new career pathways for women, but also to act as the strategic connector between clean energy companies and local talent partners to shape more equitable hiring practices across the renewable energy sector in Africa.”

Suman Sureshbabu, MD of Demand Enterprise at GEAPP mentioned their organization will continue to support gender equity to ensure benefits for women from investments in renewable energy projects across the world. The collaboration with Shortlist will be effective in creating job opportunities for women to be a part of climate solutions as well as the jobs of the future.