Women Champions in the Energy Sector

Her professional journey began with a mandatory National Youth Service assignment at Nigeria's National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), where she worked as a young lawyer. Ifey's experience at NEPA exposed her to a highly male-dominated industry, but she thrived in the diverse work environment, which offered her a range of tasks, including legal, procurement, and administrative responsibilities. Ifey's subsequent roles at the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) further solidified her expertise in the energy sector. At PHCN, she served as a member of the technical working group on legal, regulatory, and institutional issues for the Nigerian Power Sector Reform Program. Ifey also played a key role in the development of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, the legislation that reformed the Nigerian power sector. Her experience at PHCN also involved negotiating power purchase and fuel agreements, as well as drafting contracts and agreements for key projects, such as a 350MW gas power plant. Ifey's tenure at NERC was marked by significant achievements, including the development of key regulations for the application of licenses, customer complaints handling, metering, health, safety, and environmental standards, and business rules. She also led the development of electricity generation, transmission, distribution, and trading operations in Nigeria and the licensing framework for renewable energy projects in the country. Ifey's leadership at NERC resulted in increased productivity, which was attributed to the mechanism she developed for monitoring and implementing organizational change. In 2011, Ifey became a full-time Council Member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA) in Accra, Ghana. During her tenure, she led the development of key documents needed to develop the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Market. Ifey also negotiated and secured donor funding agreements for the implementation of ERERA's programs and activities. Her leadership at ERERA culminated in the launch of the ECOWAS regional electricity market, a significant achievement that involved getting all 15 member states to agree to key documents within a span of 9 months. Ifey's appointment as the first female chairperson of ERERA in 2015 marked a significant milestone in her career. In this capacity, she led a team of over 20 professionals to develop and approve the required regulations to launch the ECOWAS regional electricity market. Since 2017, Ifey has been working as an energy policy, market, and regulation consultant throughout Africa, promoting renewable energy, building human and institutional capacity, and advancing power sector reform across the continent. She also champions gender issues, working primarily with the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE). Ifey's advice to young women with an interest in the energy sector is to find a niche for themselves, be sure of who they are, focus on adding value, and network with other women.