In an exclusive interview with Energy Connects ahead of Global African Hydrogen Summit 2025, Ndeshihafela Ndivayele, Strategic Advisory Board Member & Africa Global Co-Lead, Women in Green Hydrogen (WiGH) believes the continent has a historic opportunity to lead, not just catch up, in the global hydrogen economy.
- What is your organisation’s vision for its role in the energy transition?
Women in Green Hydrogen (WiGH) is a global network (with chapters in Africa, Latin America, Europe and South Asia) of vibrant passionate women working across the green hydrogen value chain and/or even enthusiastic about green hydrogen. Our vision is to increase the visibility, amplify the voices, and accelerate the impact of women in the green hydrogen sector.
We believe that diversity is not just a moral imperative, but a catalyst for innovation. In a field as fast-moving and technically complex as green hydrogen, new ideas are essential. Our role is to ensure that the energy transition is not only green but also inclusive.
Through curated networking opportunities, strategic partnerships, global dialogues, and mentorship, WiGH is building a community that connects, empowers, and transforms. By making women more visible as speakers, thought leaders, and experts, we are shaping the discourse around hydrogen to reflect a broader, more just, and representative present and future.
- What is your organisation doing to help navigate the complexities of a nascent industry (hydrogen and renewables) in a challenging operating environment?
WiGH operates at the intersection of policy, innovation, and inclusion. We actively work to ensure that gender equity is embedded into the frameworks and institutions shaping the hydrogen economy.
In practical terms, this means:
- Running an international mentorship programme and masterclasses plus study-tours to prepare women for leadership, and technical understanding in the hydrogen space.
- Hosting expert panels and networking events focused on pressing technical, leadership, market, and policy issues.
- Managing a global expert database that connects women professionals with speaking opportunities and career visibility.
- Driving online engagement on platforms like LinkedIn and YouTube to share knowledge, elevate female voices, and keep the conversation vibrant and accessible.
- Lastly, we are working on fundraising to cover the costs of running the network and ensuring that quality services are provided. Therefore, if there are any entities or individuals who believe in our vision and are looking to empower women across the global, please feel free to communicate with us.
In Africa, this work takes on even greater urgency. We’re engaging regional and international partners to localize and globalize our approach, so that women across multiple African countries and beyond are actively shaping, not just following, and the global hydrogen narrative.
- With the numerous challenges that this new sector faces, what are the advantages for Africa in driving a regional hydrogen economy with global market reach?
Africa has a historic opportunity to lead, not just catch up, in the green hydrogen economy. With abundant solar and wind resources, vast land, a young and entrepreneurial population that is still rising, and growing political will, the continent can position itself as a green hydrogen hub for both domestic value creation and international export.
A regional approach allows for:
- Harmonised policy frameworks that attract long-term investment.
- Shared infrastructure and capacity development across borders.
- Positive impact across environmental, economic, social and governance sectors
- And stronger negotiating power on the global stage.
But most importantly, it allows Africa to build a hydrogen economy rooted in African values and needs, resilience, community, innovation, and not merely replicate extractive models of the past.
- What could be a game changer to propel the hydrogen sector forward?
A true game changer would be the integration of inclusion, access, local capacity-building, positive impact environmentally, socially and governance plus economic viability into the hydrogen development agenda from day one.
Too often, energy transitions have excluded the very people they’re meant to serve. For hydrogen to succeed in Africa, we must ensure that:
- Finance flows into human capital, not just infrastructure.
- Policy and regulation are co-created, not imposed.
- And women, youth, and underrepresented groups are centered—not sidelined.
Additionally, strengthening partnerships between the Global North and South, through equitable collaboration, not charity, will be key to building mutual benefit and technological parity.
