Empowering Women through Clean Energy: African Development Bank Launches Country Diagnostics to Accelerate Inclusive Energy Transitions

Focusing on localized, actionable solutions, the reports identify opportunities to embed gender considerations into national energy planning, investment strategies, and policy frameworks
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, July 18, 2025/ -- In a significant step toward advancing inclusive climate solutions, the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org), in partnership with the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) (https://apo-opa.co/44PhRQI), has launched the Gender and Renewable Energy Country Diagnostics (https://apo-opa.co/3GXAwSi)—a pivotal initiative exploring the nexus between gender equity and energy access in six African countries: Ghana (https://apo-opa.co/450VUOL), Liberia (https://apo-opa.co/44DKrFW), Mali (https://apo-opa.co/44ZZLM5), Lesotho (https://apo-opa.co/3GTIKeb), Madagascar (https://apo-opa.co/46jgk7Q), and Malawi (https://apo-opa.co/46dH5KX).

Commissioned by the Bank under CIF's Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program, the diagnostics provide evidence-based, country-specific recommendations to enhance women's leadership, financial inclusion, and participation in Africa's clean energy economy. Focusing on localized, actionable solutions, the reports identify opportunities to embed gender considerations into national energy planning, investment strategies, and policy frameworks. They also propose inclusive financing models that de-risk women-led energy enterprises and highlight the need for capacity-building efforts to strengthen technical skills, entrepreneurial readiness, and leadership among women in the renewable energy sector.

The findings were officially unveiled at a virtual launch event on 30 June 2025, hosted by the Bank's Climate Change and Green Growth Department and Gender and Women Empowerment Division. The event brought together stakeholders from government, civil society, the private sector, and development institutions, underscoring a strong regional commitment to gender-equitable and resilient energy transitions.

Opening the event, Al Hamndou Dorsouma, Manager of the Climate Change and Green Growth, reaffirmed the Bank's commitment to a just and inclusive energy transition. "Gender equality is a source of serious innovation and sustainable growth," he stated, emphasizing the need to translate diagnostic findings into concrete reforms, strengthening institutional coordination, and gender-responsive business and financing mechanisms. He noted that the initiative directly responds to growing country-level demand for stronger gender integration in energy strategies, building on earlier successes in East Africa.

Nathalie Gahunga, Manager of the Gender and Women Empowerment Division, closed the event with a compelling call to action. She urged governments, development partners, NGOs, financiers, and the private sector to turn the data into transformative investments, innovative programs, and inclusive policy reforms. "The real work begins now," she declared, calling for cross-sector collaboration to remove structural barriers and unlock women's full participation in Africa's green economy.

Fewstancia Munyaradzi, Executive Director of Rand Sandton Consulting Group (www.RandSandton.com), presented a consolidated action plan focused on closing financing gaps, building institutional capacity, and integrating gender-responsive approaches into energy policy and project design.

At the African Development Bank, gender integration is a core priority. Gender considerations are mainstreamed in 100 percent of the Bank's climate operations—from design through implementation. These diagnostics reflect that commitment, providing practical tools to help countries operationalize gender equality in energy planning and programming.

As Africa advances on its path to energy transformation, diagnostics are now available to guide gender-responsive policy and investment decisions across the continent. They affirm that gender inclusion is not only a development imperative but a cornerstone of sustainable, resilient progress.

This new effort builds on the Bank's earlier collaboration with the Climate Investment Funds in 2020, which produced Gender and Sustainable Energy Access country briefs for Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda (https://apo-opa.co/46MLNiY). Those briefs guided gender-sensitive energy interventions and highlighted the importance of sex-disaggregated data, national-level engagement, and context-specific recommendations.