Publications
Partners
Johannesburg – Empowering women is one of government’s priorities in the National Development Plan (NDP). But given the challenges women face in the energy industry in particular, they may have to consider lobbying government to make changes to procurement requirements.
This is according to development economist, Megan Bryer of ED Platform. She was speaking at a breakfast at the fifth annual Africa Power round table held at Webber Wentzel in Sandton, on Tuesday.
Bryer highlighted five challenges women-owned enterprises face in the procurement process. These are:
1. Compliance
The market is currently geared toward favouring black ownership at 30% and not women-ownership at 50%. Women have the option to lobby government to include criterion that includes black women ownership. Alternatively they can wait to take ownership of these opportunities and encourage enterprises to alter ownership requirements to meet the new women-owned vendor (WOV) definition, which includes black ownership.
2. Current existing procurement processes
Currently contracts rely on a network of preferred suppliers which relies on historical relationships and a track record. It is difficult for a new enterprise entering the energy market to meet the conditions of a track record and to overcome barriers of historic relationships, explained Bryer.
3. Funding
Women have the option to grow their smaller existing enterprises to meet the needs of energy companies or large contractors or they can engage in merger and acquisitions. “By design women have been excluded from the energy space so these are not small obstacles,” said Bryer. However funding does exist and the intention is to capitalize on that.
Women have the option to go to development financing institutions and different funds that target women empowerment. They also have the option to tap into investment available in the renewable energy sector. For example independent power producers (IPPs) have to commit a percentage of their revenue to enterprise development, but the qualifying criteria makes it difficult to access the funding.
4. Skills development
Entering into the industry is high risk and requires special skills that many women have not been able to develop, explained Bryer. This is something organisations such as UN Women and national and provincial governments are trying to target through capacity building and skills development programmes. “There are means of overcoming these obstacles,” she added.
5. Matching supply and demand
There is a disconnect between supply and demand for WOVs. IPPs struggle to find enterprises to meet definition of WOV and if they do meet the definition it is not to scale or of quality to meet the requirements of the procurement programme. Businesses often complain that they are aware of the opportunities in the market but they are unsure of how to enter the market.
There are different initiatives to overcome this problem. One is for WOV to register on online platforms womenowned.co.za, co-founded by Bryer and ED Platform and the Department of Energy’s (DoE) womeninenergy.co.za. This will help match suppliers of services to those demanding services from WOVs.
Elizabeth Marabwa, chief director of programmes and project at the DoE added that women should take the initiative to register on the site. “You do not have to be an electrical engineer to register as a consultant,” said Marabwa.
She added that women in the industry should do more networking to help each other. She also highlighted opportunities in the off-grid market where WOVs can provide energy in rural areas.
There are a number of opportunities in the energy sector women are not capitalising on added Marabwa.
AUDIO: Elizabeth Marabwa of the DoE shares hwhat women can do to overcome challenges in the energy space
