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 wide 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 key legislation encompassing the reform of the Nigerian power sector. Her experience at PHCN also involved negotiating power purchase and fuel agreements, drafting contracts and agreements for key projects, and developing regulations for the application of licenses, customer complaints handling, and metering. Ifey's tenure at NERC was marked by significant achievements, including the development of key regulations for electricity generation, transmission, distribution, and trading operations in Nigeria. She also led the development of the licensing framework for renewable energy projects in the country. Ifey's leadership skills were instrumental in increasing productivity at NERC through the implementation of a mechanism for monitoring and implementing organizational change. In 2011, Ifey joined the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA) as a full-time Council Member. 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 skills were again demonstrated when she was appointed as the first female chairperson of ERERA in 2015. 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. Ifey's experience as chairperson of ERERA was marked by a significant achievement, getting all 15 member states to agree to key documents within a span of 9 months, a feat that had never been accomplished in the previous 5 years. She attributes her success to her interpersonal skills, particularly her ability to relate to other stakeholders. 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.