Open Africa Power Program

The Enel Foundation and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) have launched the 2022 leg of their annual Open Africa Power Program, wherein up top 60 lucky Africans can avail online and residential modules from academic institutions such as Strathmore University, the University of Cape Town, Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico di Milano, SDA Bocconi, Florence School of Regulation, and Venice International University.

The training program aims to provides a cohort of young energy professionals with a complete set of technical, regulatory and business skills needed to trigger Africa sustainable energy future for all. This year, the program will engage learners in a series of professional development and leadership activities provided in partnership with top academic institutions in Italy and Africa. 

Application deadline: March 25, 2022

Benefits of the Open Africa Power Program

Up to 60 awardees shall be given the opportunity to participate in a series of professional development and leadership activities, comprising residential training modules in South Africa.

Established by Enel Foundation in 2018, and co-managed by SEforALL for the 2022 edition, the Open Africa Power Program is designed to equip a new generation of energy leaders with a holistic knowhow of the electricity sector to leave their mark, wheatear in public or private sector towards a clean energy future for Africa. 

Please refer to the program structure attached below for more details about the event coverage:

Open Africa Power Program Structure

• Digital African Module (May – June): this 8 week module will explore the fundamentals of the global electricity sector through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals. It will cover the following areas:

o   Renewables technology, regulation, economics;

o   Networks technology, regulation, economics;

o   ICT digitalization of the electricity industry.

• Regulation for SDG7 Online Course (May – October): the 5 month course will enable the participants to gain a comprehensive vision of how to design the appropriate policy and regulatory frameworks needed to ensure sustainable energy for all. Successful completion of this course is required to be selected for the Italian Module

• Italian Module (October – November): the module will take place in Italy (decision subject to the evolution of the COVID situation). During this 2 week residential module, the top performers of the first 2 modules (selected also on the basis of their capstone projects) will explore the new frontiers of the electricity sector and experience first-hand innovation. They will be called to actively interact with prestigious academic partners and research representatives, meet with government, business, and non-profit leaders; engage in a dialogue around issues of Africa’s clean energy future; and visit sites of innovative electricity technologies.

• Give back module: upon completion of the Italian module, alumni will be involved in teaching activities related to Enel Foundation education initiatives in Africa.

Eligibility Criteria for Africans

In order to qualify for the Open Power Africa Program, interested African applicants must first meet the following eligibility criteria:

·          Be between the ages of 24 and 35 by 3 May 2022;

·       Be a citizen of an African country;

·       Currently reside in an African country or planning to relocate to Africa by the end of 2022;

·       Be eligible to travel to Italy. All candidates are invited to check well in advance the procedure applicable to their specific case;

·       Be a graduate from or current student (having an admission letter is also acceptable) of a PhD, MSc, LLM, MPP or MBA degree. Undergraduate students or people who are not at least enrolled in a master’s degree are not eligible for this program. One of the two degrees (Bachelor or Masters) must be from an African university;

·       Have competencies and a demonstrated interest to pursue a career – in private or public sector – in the electricity space at large;

·       Be fully proficient in English;

·       Be willing to promote gender equality and women´s empowerment within and beyond the program.

To encourage and elevate more women in the energy sector, Enel Foundation and SEforALL will ensure that 50% of the Open Africa Power 2022 participants are women.

How to Apply

If you’re an aspiring scholar who meets the aforementioned criteria, please take note of these instructions for applying.

Applications must be submitted exclusively through our scholarship platform, using the verification code (OAPF2022). To begin the procedure, just click on the link and copy-paste the code listed above.

Applicants must provide:

·      A copy of their CV (in PDF format);

·      Copy of their Bachelor’s and Master’s degree certificates (plus eventual MBA/PhD certificates) AND academic transcripts (in PDF format);

·      A copy of their Passport (in PDF format);

·      A motivation letter (max 700 words, in PDF format);

·      Three reference letters from industry, academia and/or civil servant representatives (in PDF format).

The application process begins with a registration form that allows applicants to sign up by entering their contact details. They will then receive a confirmation email redirecting them to the actual application form, which is divided into stages. At any given stage, if the required document is not uploaded, the system will prevent the applicant from advancing to the next stage. To successfully complete the process, all the documents listed in the bullet points above are required. Applications can be saved and resumed at a later stage. However, once an application is submitted, it cannot be amended. Therefore, please make sure your submission meets the requirements.

Interested candidates acknowledge that by submitting their application they will share personal data and authorize the treatment of personal data only for the scope of this program. Without such authorization, the application will not be submitted. For full information please read the privacy note.

For further information, please visit the official scholarship website.

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