Gender equality is a vital part of ensuring equal access to affordable, reliable energy for all. Yet women and other excluded groups remain underrepresented in energy access and poverty reduction programmes.
Transforming Energy Access (TEA) is working hard to change that. Since 2017, we are proud to have provided 14.3 million women with improved access to clean energy, helped to create more than 30,000 green jobs for women and provided over 1,000 women with job placements and training in clean energy businesses.
For International Women’s Day 2026, the TEA platform is proud to highlight the work of some of our partners making a real impact on the ground.
Empowering the next generation of female leaders in energy
Since its launch in 2023, more than 300 women have graduated from the Future Female Leaders in Energy programme, developed in collaboration with the Africa Management Institute and the University of Cape Town. The 6-month course aims to equip young women in the Energy Access sector with the skills, knowledge and confidence to take on leadership positions.
Saving women time and money through access to clean cooking
ICLEI’s Enabling African Cities for Transformative Energy Access Uganda Scale Up (ENACTUS), supported by the TEA platform, has expanded access to clean cooking to more than 50,000 people across the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area. It builds on the success of ENACT, which had a transformative impact on women in Kampala and Freetown, Sierra Leone, who are responsible for most of the cooking in their communities.
Hear from some of these women directly: Improving clean cooking access in Kampala (Uganda)’s informal settlements
Embedding gender-inclusive practices within clean energy companies
Value for Women worked with TEA Platform Partners POPO, Natfort Energy and TEA@Sunrise to turn their gender equality commitments into concrete actions. Recruitment, marketing, and customer service were tailored to women’s needs. Product design teams ensured that market research was inclusive, and central operations teams embedded gender equality, disability and social inclusion into measurement, accountability and governance frameworks, As a result, these companies were able to reach new female customers, uncover new market opportunities and build inclusive workplaces.
Explore their tactics here: https://www.v4w.org/resources/wanted-women-in-clean-energy
Emphasising gender equality while advancing Africa’s circular battery economy
Women and young people are underrepresented in technical battery roles. Celloop, as part of a ZE-Gen consortium led by ThinkClock delivered training in battery recovery, diagnostics and assembly, specifically targeting women and young people. These groups also benefited from inclusive recruitment practices, mentorship, and flexible work arrangements. One female trainee, who joined the company with no technical background, now leads the cell testing and grading unit, handling state-of-health diagnostics for thousands of cells.
Unlocking women’s income through clean energy
With funding from Transforming Energy Access and the Shell Foundation, Odyssey Energy Solutions piloted a gender results-based financing programme, incentivizing four clean energy appliance distributors to drive uptake among female customers. It resulted in 2,494 appliances – including clean cooking, solar irrigation and agro-processing technologies –sold to women in Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, with 81% of women reporting increased income as a result.
Explore the key takeaways from the pilot here: Gender results based financing pilot – Shell Foundation
Keep up to date with the latest news and publications from across the TEA platform via the website and social media channels: https://www.linkedin.com/company/transforming-energy-access/