She remembers the girl who couldn’t study after dark, not for lack of will, but for lack of light. That image shaped Dr. Omopeju Afanu’s response when Adebusuyi Olumadewa, founder of DoTheDream Youth Development Initiative and lead strategist of the Girls in Energy Project (GIE Funds, GIE Village), asked her to co-chair the Global Working Group and CSW70 Planning Committee. For her, it was never about titles, but about girls left in the dark.
With a career spanning business transformation, technology, and multi-stakeholder engagement across Nigeria and North America, she saw CSW70 as a space to turn advocacy into measurable impact. She describes Girls in Energy as a platform for women’s empowerment, energy access, and community transformation. In this interview with MARY NNAH, she discussed energy and gender equality, the role of sport in CSW70, what a 10MW mini-grid means for a 13-year-old girl, and why the $20M fund is critical
What made you say yes to chairing the CSW70 Planning Committee?
When Adebusuyi Olumadewa, the Founder of DoTheDream Youth Development Initiative and Lead Strategist of Girls in Energy Project, GIE Funds, GIE Village approached me to Co-Chair the Global Working Group I was pretty excited and I further agreed to chair the CSW70 Planning Committee because I understood how important the Girls in Energy Project was, not only as an advocacy platform, but as a practical vehicle for women’s economic empowerment, energy access, and community transformation.
