Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen) Managing Director and CEO, Rebecca Miano yesterday joined other key global leaders at the World Bank Group (WBG) event themed “Gender-Smart Investing: Private Sector Approaches to Advance Gender Equality” which aims to increase women participation in both private and public employment sector.
The WBG event comes against the backdrop of a year-long initiative called #Accelerate Equality, marking the 10-year anniversary of the World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development (WDR2012). Speakers at the event shared approaches undertaken across the WBG to channel more investment capital towards efforts that remove barriers to women’s ownership of and control of assets, such as housing and financial services.
Speaking during the event, the KenGen MD and CEO said, “Gender-smart investing is about addressing gender gaps and levelling up the position of women so they have equal opportunities to men. Gender should be integrated into our existing processes, not added as a separate activity.”
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A landmark study by McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) found that if women were to participate in the economy identically to men, they could add as much as $28 trillion or 26 percent to annual global GDP (roughly the combined size of the current U.S. and Chinese economies) by 2025.”
“I challenge the private sector to play a more active role in partnership with government and non-government organizations to address the issues that limit the involvement of women in economic development and unlock economic opportunities for all.” She added.
In 2016, KenGen founded the Pink Energy Initiative to uplift the status of women within KenGen. The forum has since advanced to a sectoral platform to enjoin the other state agencies within the Ministry of Energy. Anchored on three pillars; personal development and empowerment, creating a conducive work environment for women employees and gender awareness, the initiative has enabled women at the organization to make remarkable progress on professionalism, career growth, health and wellness, financial management, parenting and mentorship.
During the International Women’s Day in March 2021, KenGen bagged a gender award under the Annual Trailblazer Awards from the Ministry of Public Service and Gender in recognition of its efforts to promote gender mainstreaming and women empowerment through its Pink Energy Initiative.
The NSE-listed firm’s CEO, spoke at the event in her capacity as a member of the World Bank Group’s Advisory Council on Gender and Development. Miano joined the Council in July 2020.
KenGen PLC is East Africa’s largest electricity producer and is among the top 10 geothermal energy producers in the world.
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