A decade into the creation of South Africa’s renewable energy sector, it has become apparent that it is still lagging in gender diversity, which is why South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) CEO Ntombifuthi Ntuli says the industry is actively giving attention to adjust and improve the levels of gender representation, at all levels, with the launch of its Gender Diversity Working Group. “Gender diversity means a fair gender representation across all spheres of our industry,” she comments, lamenting that a 2020 report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) and the Women in Wind Global Leadership Program shows that women represent only 21% of the global wind energy workforce and only 8% of its senior management.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Saturday for a binding deal by the summer on the operation of a giant Ethiopian hydropower dam, as he made his first visit to neighbouring Sudan since the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir. Egypt also signalled support for Sudan in a dispute with Ethiopia over an area on the border between the two countries where there have recently been armed skirmishes.