As we gear up towards our digital speaks edition in the first quarter of 2019, we will continue to profile leading women in Africa’s digital space such as Eketi Ette who featured in the month November. This month we have the erudite Dr. Urenna Oyewuchi. An accomplished scientist and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) girl child inclusion advocate.
Urenna Onyewuchi has been passionate about improving Africa’s access to reliable electricity from a young age. “Access to electricity in Nigeria and the entire continent of Africa is very low: about 50 percent in Nigeria and 30 percent in Africa,” she says. From Houston, Texas, Onyewuchi attended high school in Nigeria, where she discovered her passion for mathematics and saw the need for greater access to reliable electricity. “My father spent a lot on diesel for the diesel generators to ensure my siblings and I had sufficient light to do our homework and succeed in school,” she says. “Electricity affects every aspect of life.”
Now with a PhD in electrical engineering, Onyewuchi put her passion for science and mathematics into action as a senior member of IEEE PES’s Power Africa initiative. The initiative holds an annual Power and Energy Conference in different parts of Africa every year to encourage young children to get involved with activities like tutorials, paper sessions, Women in Energy sessions, and more.
Over the years, initiative has held successful conferences in Zambia, Ghana, and South Africa. Onyewuchi attributes the initiative’s success to her supportive team members and volunteers. “I have been blessed with the most amazing teams, committees and volunteers,” she says. “We constantly accept new volunteers, both African and non-African, to help with this program.” She and her IEEE Power Africa team organize programs to identify and train fledgling solar entrepreneurs in Africa and encourage young girls to pursue STEM-related studies. In the future, Onyewuchi wants to expand outreach initiatives to attract potential donors and increase awareness of electrical solutions in Africa. She hopes that the initiative will also lead to greener power solutions.
Onyewuchi recently started a new endeavor, applying all the skill sets she has gathered over the last decade, into starting a combined engineering consulting and speaking business. The name of her new company is Anneru Solutions Incorporated. The business focuses on infrastructure management, smart metering, developing Africa, and coaching young girls into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), a male-dominated field. Through her company, she advises private and public industries in the aforementioned fields, including writing reports on how to develop power and infrastructure in Africa to be as distinguished as in different countries around the world that she has visited.
While not looking for ways to solve Africa’s energy problems, Urenna likes to explore different cultures in countries that she visits. As you can see her sporting this elegant Chinese dress at a Mall in Taipei. Where she also visited a Buddhist temple and all casual in sunglasses on holiday in Japan. She is an all rounded woman who has learnt to balance the demands of her high octane career and family yet still finds time for “alone time”.
She is truly the model 21st woman whom the Pride Women Conference strives to foster.
For more information on Dr. Onyewuchi, see www.anneru.com or visit her LinkedIn profile.