Sopuruchi Onwuka

Female professionals, advocacy groups and women-led enterprises in Nigeria’s energy industry have raised concerns over low patronage from government and operating companies, despite growing opportunities in the global energy market.

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The leading advocacy group promoting gender equity and diversity in the sector, Women in Energy Network (WIEN), says cultural and religious stereotypes continue to shape corporate decisions, often to the disadvantage of qualified women and women-owned businesses.

Following recent engagements with policymakers and multilateral financial institutions, WIEN noted that many women-led companies have proven their technical and financial capacity to execute major industry projects. Yet, they still face barriers rooted in long-standing biases.

Speaking during the engagements, WIEN President, Eyono Fatai-Williams, called for urgent structural reforms across Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. She emphasized the need to remove systemic obstacles limiting women’s participation in the workforce, leadership roles, and enterprise ownership.

WIEN also pointed to the underutilization of the $40 million Women in Energy Fund, supported by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM). According to Mrs Fatai-Williams, the issue is not a lack of capable women-owned businesses, but limited access to contract opportunities.

The current procurement model, WIEN explained, requires firms to demonstrate prior asset ownership and technical capacity before securing contracts. This creates a cycle that locks out emerging companies from gaining the experience needed to grow.

“This is not a social issue. It is a structural and strategic issue,” the group stated, warning that Nigeria’s energy security goals cannot be achieved while a large segment of its population remains underutilized.

WIEN further called for stronger female representation at board level, noting that diverse leadership improves decision-making, risk management, and long-term industry resilience.

The group also emphasized the need to strengthen the pipeline for young women through internships, mentorship, and industry-backed exposure programs.

Fatai-Williams stressed that the group is not asking for special treatment, but equal access to opportunities. According to her, women bring strong standards and quality to service delivery, making them valuable contributors to the sector.

She added that gender inclusion should not be viewed as tokenism, but as a strategic necessity for economic growth, competitiveness, and long-term energy security.

Citing industry data, she said women make up just 18.2% of Nigeria’s energy workforce and hold only 25.6% of leadership positions. The gap is even wider in the oil and gas services sector, where less than 2% of over 35,000 companies on the Joint Qualification System (JQS) platform are women-owned.

Fatai-Williams warned that persistent bias is discouraging younger women from entering the industry. She noted that limited trust in women for technical and leadership roles is reducing interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Currently, women account for only 17% of STEM enrolment, raising concerns about the future talent pipeline in a sector already facing skills shortages.

She argued that Nigeria cannot afford to sideline half of its population while dealing with critical gaps in petroleum and power sectors. Removing gender barriers, she said, is essential to fully harness national human capacity.