Vivo Energy Ghana PLC, the exclusive distributor and marketer of Shell-branded fuels and lubricants has held its annual summit dubbed “ShePower”, in Kumasi, last week Thursday.
The summit, under the theme: “Empowering Women in Energy: Innovative Solutions for a Sustainable Ghana”, had an array of activities such as Expert Panel, Innovation Exhibition, Vivo GTP Presentation and Student Panel.
ShePower is Vivo Energy Ghana’s flagship initiative dedicated to advancing women in the Energy sector.
Now, in its third year, it has become one of Ghana’s most significant platforms connecting female engineering students with industry leaders, career pathways and real opportunities within the energy sector.
It also served as the official platform to unveil the “Next Generation Innovation Challenge” – a transformative project aimed at empowering young minds to develop practical, forward-thinking solutions for Ghana’s evolving Energy landscape.
Mr Christian Lee, Managing Director, Vivo Energy Ghana disclosed that at Vivo, they believe progress happens when opportunity meets courage, which belief gave birth to ShePower, a platform where ambition meets access, mentorship meets momentum and dreams begin to take shape.
He further disclosed that the energy transition, sustainability and digitalisation require fresh thinking, indicating that the energy sector needs engineers, problem solvers, innovators, especially women ready to step forward confidently.
Mr. Lee urged the participants to speak up, seek mentors, network fearlessly, and most importantly imagine themselves not just as future employees, but as future leaders, CEOs, innovators and change makers.
Speaking on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, Prof. Kwaku Amaning Adjei, Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, KNUST, commended Vivo Energy Ghana for creating such powerful platform, noting that initiatives like ShePower are not just events, but create space for mentorship, inspiration and visibility for women, who are shaping the future of the energy sector.
He thanked Vivo for partnering with the Petroleum Engineering Department, Kwame Nkrumah Institute of Science and Technology, to come up with the NextGen Energy Innovations Challenge.
Prof. Kwaku Amaning Adjei noted that the energy sector was undergoing rapid transformation, thus moving towards cleaner energy systems, smarter technologies and more sustainable infrastructure.
Prof. Kwaku Amaning Adjei suggested that the future of energy must also be inclusive, stressing that for far too long women have been underrepresented in engineering, but gradually progress was being made with the percentage of women at the College of Engineering increasing year in and year out, and that currently their enrolment constitutes 30 percent of admissions.
Prof. Adjei indicated that, “events like this, help accelerate the change, which we are proud to be part of this transformation,” noting that “every year, we see more young women entering engineering, science and the technology programmes and they are not just entering, they are excelling in classrooms, leading innovative research and demonstrating that talent and excellence know no gender.”
Delivering the Keynote Address, Prof. David Ato Quansah, Director, BrewEnergy Centre, KNUST, disclosed that the goal of his outfit was to harness and deploy the vast research expertise and capabilities to address the increasingly complex challenges of energy and sustainability within Ghana and across the continent.
Touching on the theme, Prof. Ato Quansah indicated the need to integrate women in the energy sector workforce, noting that this requires some analytics and tracking, as well as devising innovative ways of improving the situation.
He noted that there is the gender-responsive budgeting and procurement initiatives that try to diversify the supplier portfolio to consciously empower women who are in the value chain.
The Brew Energy Centre Director disclosed that the concept of “sustainability” is framed around three things – environment, economy and society and that each country must chart its own unique pathway of achieving development.
From Oswald P. Freiku, Kumasi
