Call for Applications: Open Africa Power 2023

Overview

For International Women’s Day, Enel Foundation and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) launched the call for applications for the 2023 edition of Open Africa Power, the programme that each year since 2018 has provided a cohort of young energy professionals with a complete set of technical, regulatory and business skills needed to build a sustainable energy future for all in Africa. This year the programme will engage up to 150 African students, with at least 50 percent women, and almost 400 Alumni in a series of professional development and leadership activities provided in partnership with top academic institutions in Italy and Africa.

Open Africa Power 2023 comprises 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. The programme, as in past editions, receives significant support from our institutional partner, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Initiated by Enel Foundation in 2018, and co-managed by SEforALL since 2022, Open Africa Power is designed to equip a new generation of energy leaders with a holistic know-how of the electricity sector, so they can have an impact, in the public or private sectors, towards a clean energy future for Africa.

Programme Structure

Digital African Module: State of the Art and Capstone Project (May – June): This 24-hour module will occur between early May and end of June 2023. It will take place in digital form only. The module, delivered in collaboration with the UCT Graduate School of Business, will explore the fundamentals of the global electricity sector through the lens of the sustainable development goals, with specific sessions dedicated to the nexus between energy and gender balance. It will cover the following areas:

Networks technology, regulation, economics;
Renewables technology, regulation, economics;
ICT digitalization of the electricity industry

Regulation for SDG7 Online Course (May – October): the five-month course will enable the participants to gain a comprehensive vision of how to design the policy and regulatory frameworks needed to ensure sustainable energy for all.

Italian Module: New Frontiers (January – March 2024): the Italian Module is dedicated to the Best Performers of the course and comprises two separate learning moments:

A 27-hour online course from early January to early March 2024 where Italian academic partners (SDA Bocconi, Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico di Milano, Venice International University) will deliver lectures on the new frontiers of crucial topics of the energy transition;
A full residency week that will take part in Italy in March 2024. Participants will have direct experience of the new frontiers of the electricity sector through a number of site visits to innovative power plants, experimental and training labs, as well as control rooms.

Give back module: upon completion of the Italian module, the entire cohort of alumni will be involved in teaching activities related to Enel Foundation education initiatives in Africa.

Eligibility Criteria

The Open Africa Power selection process is an open, merit-based competition. The application period opens on March 8, 2023 and closes on April 10, 2023.

To be eligible, candidates must meet the following criteria:

Be between the ages of 24 and 35 by May 1, 2023;
Be a citizen of an African country;
Currently be a resident in an African country or planning to relocate to Africa by the end of 2024;
Be eligible to travel to Italy. All candidates should check well in advance the procedure applicable to their specific case;
Graduated by 1 May 2023 from a PhD, MSc, LLM, MPP or MBA degree. Undergraduate students, people with only a BSc degree or people who are currently enrolled in a master’s degree (i.e. Graduate students) are not eligible for this programme. At least one degree (PhD, MSc, BSc, LLM, MPP or MBA) must be from an African university;
Have competences and a demonstrated interest to pursue a career – in private or public sector – in the electricity space at large;
Be fully proficient in English (CEFR C1 level), and be able to demonstrate this via an official language certificate or completion of at least one degree completely taught in English;
Willingness to promote gender equality and women´s empowerment within and beyond the programme.

Women play a critical role in the energy sector, but they are often left out of decision-making and have restricted access to energy education, employment opportunities and finance. Therefore, their participation in the OAP is highly encouraged. Enel Foundation and SEforALL will ensure that 50 percent of the participants are women.

How to Apply

Applications are to be filed through our dedicated platform exclusively, using the verification code (OAPF2325). We highly invite you to start and complete your application on both Google Chrome and a desktop environment for the best results possible in terms of stability and reliability of the platform. Please click on the link and copy-paste the code written above in order to begin the process.

Applicants must provide:

A copy of their CV (in PDF format);
Copy of their Bachelor’s and Master’s degree certificates (plus eventual MBA/PhD certificates) AND academic transcripts (in PDF format);
A copy of their Passport (in PDF format);
A motivation letter (max 700 words, in PDF format);
Three reference letters from industry, academia and/or civil servant representatives (in PDF format).

The application process begins with a registration form that allows applicants to sign up by entering their contact details. They will then receive a confirmation email redirecting them to the actual application form, which is divided into stages. At any given stage, if the required document is not uploaded, the system will prevent the applicant from advancing to the next stage. To successfully complete the process, all the documents listed in the bullet points above are required. Applications can be saved and resumed at a later stage. However, once an application is submitted, it cannot be amended. Therefore, please make sure your submission meets the requirements.

Interested candidates acknowledge that by submitting their application they will share personal data and authorize the treatment of personal data only for the scope of this programme. Without such authorization, the application will not be submitted. For full information please read the privacy note.

You may download the Call for Applications directly from this link.

To learn more, click here.

Funding Opportunities