Graça Machel advocates greater participation of Mozambican women in clean energy

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Graça Machel advocates greater participation of Mozambican women in clean energy

1:49 CAT | 13 Jun 2025

Photo: Ministério dos Recursos Minerais e Energia

Mozambican social activist Graça Machel has called for greater participation of women in the county’s clean energy production industry, to improve the quality of life and boost the country’s social development.

“First, women should organize themselves and say: we are going to manufacture improved stoves, we are going to manufacture solar panels here, because we have boys who leave our schools, including technical schools. […] If the Chinese can learn that science, Africans can learn it too,” Graça Machel said on Wednesday, during the Summit of Women in Clean Energy and Climate Action Network in Maputo.

For Graça Machel, the empowerment of women in this sector could improve the quality of life, boosting the development of Mozambique.

“Whether at the village, district, neighbourhood level, wherever, anyone who works in energy must have the face of a woman and say how this is expressed in a concrete way, to serve women and so that they can exercise their rights, and have women as drivers of development that will benefit the whole of society,” the former Minister of Education of Mozambique said.

For Graça Machel, women should also be involved in major financial investments and, for this, a change of mentality is necessary.

“We want to have important entrepreneurs here, to undertake in the energy sector. We want to have women investors in the energy sector,” she reiterated.

The former wife of the first President of Mozambique, Samora Machel, also criticized the concept of inclusion, defending the image of a more independent and autonomous woman.

“Even saying inclusion inhibits women from taking the initiative. You don’t have to be included, but you have to design what you want, to then create a world that serves you better,” she stated.

Graça Machel is considered a strong advocate for Africa’s successes and potential. In 2010, she founded the Graça Machel Trust, an organization that assists women entrepreneurs on the African continent, while also advocating for good governance and democracy.

Source: Lusa