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Applications are now open for the Enel Foundation Open Africa Power Program 2025. Click here to learn more about this opportunity and apply for it.
Opportunity Details
Enel Foundation and Sustainable Energy for All(“SEforALL”), (both hereinafter the “Open Africa Power Program Owners”) are excited to launch the call for applications for the 2025 edition of Open Africa Power, the programme that each year from 2018 provides a cohort of young energy professionals with a complete set of technical, regulatory and business skills needed to trigger Africa’s sustainable energy future for all. This year the programme will engage up to 80 African students, with at least 50% women, and almost 500 alumni in a series of professional development and leadership activities provided in partnership with top academic institutions in Italy and Africa.
Open Africa Power Program 2025 comprises of online and residential modules from academic institutions such the University of Cape Town – Graduate School of Business (”UCT”), African School of Regulation, Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico di Milano, SDA Bocconi.
Initiated by Enel Foundation in 2018 and co-managed with SEforALL from the 2022 edition, Open Africa Power is designed to equip a new generation of energy leaders with a holistic knowhow of the electricity sector to leave their mark, whether in public or private sector towards a clean energy future for Africa.
2.1 Program Structure
The Open Africa Power Program will consist of local and international experts both from academia and industry and comprise the following modules:
a) Digital African Module: State of the Art
This 24-hour module will occur between early June and mid July 2025. It will take place in digital form only. The module, delivered in collaboration with the UCT and African School of Regulation, will explore the fundamentals of the global electricity sector through the lenses of sustainable development goals with specific sessions dedicated to the nexus between energy and gender balance. It will cover the following areas:
o Networks technology, regulation, economics
o Renewables technology, regulation, economics
o ICT digitalization of the electricity industry
Following the African Module, participants will be asked to take a final assignment in the form of an online multiple-choice test (“Assignment”).
b) External Partner Online Course
This course will enable the learners to gain a comprehensive vision on how to design appropriate policy and regulatory framework needed to ensure sustainable energy for all. The online course on Energy Sector for Energy Transition, delivered by an accredited external partner, will start in early June and will end around mid-October 2025.
Participants are required to complete a Country Project (individually or as a group).
At the end of the course, the participants can earn a Certificate of Attendance, a Certificate of Completion or a Certificate of Excellence, depending on their performance and engagement throughout the course.
c) Italian Module: New Frontiers
The Italian Module comprises two separate learning moments:
i. A full residential week that will take place in Italy in the second half of 2025. Participants will have direct experience of the new frontiers of the electricity sector, through a number of site visits to innovative power plants, experimental and training labs as well as control rooms. They will be also called to actively interact with prestigious academic partners and research representatives, meet with government, business, and non-profit leaders, engaging in dialogues around the clean energy future of the African Continent.
ii. An eight-weeks online course from mid-October to early December 2025 where Italian academic partners (Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico di Milano, SDA Bocconi) will deliver lectures on the new frontiers of crucial topics such as Additive Manufacturing, ICT applied to Networks’ Management, Economic and Environmental Impact Accounting, Renewables potential and climate change, Decision-making under uncertainty and the key drivers of the energy transition.
d) Give Back Module
Upon completion of the Italian module, Enel Foundation could decide to involve the cohort of alumni in teaching activities and events related to its education initiatives in Africa and beyond.
The Open Africa Power selection process is an open, merit-based, competition. The application period opens on April 14th, 2025, and closes on May 16th, 2025.
To be eligible, candidates must meet the following criteria:
a) Be between the ages of 24 and 35 by April 14th, 2025.
b) Be a citizen of an African country.
c) Currently resident in an African country or planning to relocate in Africa within the end of 2025.
d) Be eligible to travel to Italy. All candidates are invited to check well in advance the procedure applicable to their specific cases.
e) Having graduated by April 16th, 2025, from a PhD, MBA or Master’s degree (MSc, LLM, MPP, etc.) degree. Current undergraduate students, people only in possess of a Bachelor’s degree or people who are currently enrolled in a Master’s degree (i.e. graduate students) are not eligible for this program. At least one degree (PhD, MBA, Master’s, Bachelor’s) must be from an African University.
f) Have competences and a demonstrated interest to pursue a career – in private or public sector - in the electricity space at large.
g) Be fully proficient in English (CEFR C1 level) and be able to demonstrate this via an official language certificate or completion of at least one degree completely taught in English.
h) Willingness to promote gender equality and women´s empowerment within and beyond the programme.
Recognizing that women play a critical role in the energy sector, but they are often left out of decision-making and have restricted access to energy education, employment opportunities and finance, their participation in the OAP is highly encouraged. Enel Foundation and SEforALL will ensure that 50% of the participants are women.
Applications are to be filed through their dedicated platform exclusively. Please, start and complete your application on both Google Chrome and a desktop environment for the best results possible in terms of stability and reliability of the platform.
Applicants must provide:
a) A copy of their CV (in .pdf format).
b) Copy of their Bachelor’s and Master’s degree certificates (plus eventual MBA/PhD certificates) AND academic transcripts (in .pdf format).
c) A copy of their passport (in .pdf format).
d) A motivation letter (max 700 words, in .pdf format).
e) Two reference letters from two different 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 and any other personal details requested on the platform 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.