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By Adewale Sanyaolu and Chukwuma Umeorah
The Women in Energy Network (WIEN) and KPMG have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop a gender, diversity and inclusion benchmark for Nigeria’s energy sector, establish a verification process for industry awards and compile a database of verified women-owned businesses.
The three-part partnership is expected to provide data on women’s participation in the energy industry, strengthen the credibility of WIEN’s awards and improve the visibility of women-owned businesses seeking opportunities across the sector.
The agreement was announced in Lagos on Tuesday at a press conference by WIEN, where its President, Eyono Fatai-Williams, said the collaboration would support efforts to promote women’s participation across the energy value chain, including upstream, midstream, downstream, power and renewable energy.
The gender, diversity and inclusion (DEI) benchmark report, which is scheduled for unveiling on November 11, will provide an initial assessment of inclusion across the industry and serve as a basis for tracking progress in subsequent editions.
Fatai-Williams said the report would help address the lack of reliable data often cited in discussions about women’s participation in the sector. According to her, the partnership with KPMG would also enable WIEN to verify women-owned businesses before including them in a database that organisations could use to identify potential suppliers and business partners. “It’s important that we create a credible and reliable statistics to measure the participation of women in the industry and make improvements where necessary.”
The initiative is intended to address challenges in identifying credible women-owned businesses and improving their access to opportunities in the energy industry. WIEN said the database would be supported by verification to establish the ownership of businesses listed.
The third component of the agreement covers the vetting of nominees and results for WIEN’s awards. KPMG will support the verification process to ensure that the selection of individuals and companies is based on established criteria. The awards will recognise women who have made contributions to the energy industry, as well as companies that have demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion within their operations and value chains.
Speaking on the partnership, Associate Director, KPMG representative, Chukwuemeke Igabari said the firm would support the collection and validation of data for the benchmark and the assessment of award nominees. We would also examine how companies integrate diversity, equity and inclusion into their governance structures, policies and business practices.
“The benchmark is expected to provide an initial reference point for assessing progress in areas such as women’s representation in leadership, career development, opportunities for young girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and access to business opportunities.”
WIEN said it would use the findings to engage industry stakeholders and government on measures to improve women’s participation in the sector.
The network’s conference Chairperson, Bassey Adie said the report would enable discussions about inclusion to be based on evidence rather than general assertions. “We want a situation where we’re going into meetings, we’re talking about DEI, we’re not just speaking abstractly. We’re now speaking data-driven facts,” she said.
Adie added that the benchmark would focus on women in leadership and careers, pathways for young girls in STEM through mentorship and employment opportunities, and women in business, including supplier diversity programmes. She added that WIEN intended to use the findings to strengthen engagement with government and industry stakeholders on policies that could encourage greater inclusion.
Beyond the agreement, WIEN said it had grown from 30 founding members in 2020 to more than 1,000 women, with over 32 corporate organisations represented in its membership. The network also conducts capacity-building programmes, webinars and masterclasses aimed at helping women develop the technical and professional skills required to advance in the industry.
Its other initiatives include board-readiness training for women seeking leadership positions, scholarship support for young girls in STEM and plans to establish a WIEN Academy to expand technical and professional training.
