494
Alumni having completed the Programme at 2025
57
Women engaged in mentorship & job shadowing by 2025
36
Different African nationalities of participants
Context
Initiated by Enel Foundation in 2018, and co-managed by SEforALL from 2022 edition, the Open Africa Power (OAP) Programme is aimed at empowering women and youth to lead the clean energy transition of Africa. Since 2018, OAP has provided a cohort of young energy professionals with a complete set of technical, regulatory and business skills needed to trigger Africa's sustainable energy future for all.
Since SEforALL started co-managing the OAP programme in 2021, the programme has supported 494 young people from 36 African Nations, 50% of which were female. OAP has also supported 57 young women through the mentorship and dedicated job shadowing programme.
The main vision of the Open Africa Power programme is to equip a new generation of energy leaders in Africa with the necessary technical, regulatory, and business skills to drive sustainable energy development on the continent. The programme aims to harness Africa's abundant clean energy sources to meet economic development targets while ensuring inclusivity and leaving no one behind. The challenges addressed by the programme include the need for skilled energy professionals to navigate Africa's industrialization, the impacts of the climate crisis, and the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the programme seeks to address the underrepresentation of young professionals and women in the energy sector and to shift the narrative by showcasing the capability and innovation of African youth.
Providing Know-How
The OAP Programme is designed to equip a new generation of energy leaders with a holistic know-how of the electricity sector, by exploring the fundamentals of the sector under the lens of sustainable development. This will provide specific knowledge and insights of renewable energy technologies, regulation, and economics driving a clean energy future for Africa.
Encouraging Women and Youth to lead in the Energy Transition
By putting women and youth at the forefront of the energy transition and providing them with additional tools to leave their mark, the OAP Programme allows them to steer the necessary changes and participate in the public or private sector towards a clean energy future for Africa.
Activities
On an annual basis, the programme engages up to 150 African students, with at least 50% women, and more than 400 Alumni in a series of professional development and leadership activities provided in partnership with top academic institutions in Italy and Africa. The programme is comprised of online and residential modules from academic institutions such as the University of Cape Town, Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico di Milano, SDA Bocconi, Florence School of Regulation, and Venice International University.
Results
In 2025, SEforALL and Enel Foundation, supported by our institutional partners Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, empowered 494 young energy leaders to advance their careers in various STEM roles in sustainable energy sector. Through the ongoing 7th edition of the Open Africa Power programme, 80 young energy leaders representing 28 African countries, 56% of whom are women, are receiving world class energy education and capacity building in technical, regulatory, and business skills. This edition will come to a close in Winter 2025 with the Italian Residential module dedicated to the programme’s top performers.
In 2025, the OAP model was scaled to Brazil. The programme is currently supporting 30 participants in the inaugural 2025 Open Brazil Power edition.
