Key Takeaways from the Africa Energies Summit Panel on Women in Energy Leadership

Some panels talk about diversity. This one made the business case - and backed it with numbers.

This discussion brought together women leading across the upstream value chain, from national oil companies to global geoscience and technology firms, and some of the discussion points deserve to travel well beyond the room:

Diverse teams solve new problems. Homogeneous teams are good at familiar challenges - diverse ones handle the unfamiliar. In an industry being reshaped by digitalisation, AI and the pace of change, that distinction matters more than ever.

Sponsorship beats mentorship. Mentors give advice; sponsors open doors and get people into the rooms where careers are made. Alongside colleagues, graduate pathways and networks that connect university to industry, this was the clearest call to action of the session.

Lean in, don’t lean out. Study after study, and story after story on stage, shows women ticking every leadership box but hesitating to step forward. Every panellist committed to a personal intention to change that, from reviving global women's networks to mentoring the next generation.

The talent is there. The evidence is there. The task now is to keep opening the doors.

Panelists:
Fatoumata SANOGO - PETROCI
Nahed Kahloul - SLB
Jennifer Obiajulu - TGS
Selebia Etomi - The Risk Advisory Group

Moderator: Gayle Meikle - Frontier