Energy, Gender & Development Consultant Adaku Ufere is an award-winning energy professional with over a decade’s experience leading multicultural and multilingual teams across Africa in the structuring, negotiation and implementation of energy and natural resource projects in Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, South Sudan, Nigeria, South Africa, Sao Tome & Principe, Cameroon, Uganda, Congo and other Sub-Saharan countries.
Her primary capacity in the field of oil & gas, power, mining, energy policy and gender; and she is particularly committed to working towards finding solutions that address and lead to the eradication of energy poverty experienced by women in rural and low-income urban areas in developing countries.
She is currently an Independent Legal Consultant in the field of Energy, Gender and Development and the Founder of DAX Consult, a legal consultancy firm providing legal and business advisory services. She specializes in providing services to mainstream gender into energy regulations, policies and programs, in the form of training, strategy and action plans; facilitating the entry of international companies into Africa, finding them local partners, registering and securing all licenses and permits for the companies.
She also handles digital communication and social media strategy for companies helping them increase brand awareness.
She is a respected international conference speaker and panelist, speaking at conferences in Equatorial Guinea, South Sudan, South Africa, the United States of America, United Kingdom, the Republic of Congo, Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria; and a prolific writer, with published articles in the field of energy, gender and project finance.
She has also been named one of the 40 Under 40 Leading Lawyers in Nigeria 2016, Attorney of the Year at the African Legal Awards 2017, Young African Professional of the Year 2018 a Fellow of the Institute of Energy Security, Ghana, a Mandela Washington Fellow 2018 and a YALI Young Woman in African Power 2018.
We sat down with Adaku over the weekend to discuss how to identify and maximise opportunities for career growth.
Some lessons we took out from her session are listed below.
- Explore as many options as possible.
- There are so many things you stand to learn and gain from failing. Do not be afraid to fail.
- The importance of having a thriving circle, a circle that mirrors the strides you want to take in life cannot be underestimated. To go far in life, watch your circle.
- There is so much you can learn from the career journey and mistakes of women who have gone ahead of you. If you can, do get a career mentor.
- Before you take work related risks, examine your situation thoroughly to know the risks involved for you.
- It is important to have women breaking the limits beside you, this would motivate you.
- It is okay to ask for help when you need one as long as you are sincere, there are always people willing to help.
- Peer mentoring is always advisable and a good source of motivation.
Adaku granted an exclusive #LLA nterview on our flagship series #CareerConversationsWithLLA. You can read the interview here.
You are welcome??
