The 25 Under 40 Energy Women Rising Stars is a list celebrating the remarkable achievements of a select group of women across Africa’s energy sector, such as Janice Faria, CEO of Enagol – Energias de Angola. As CEO of Enagol, Faria has elevated the company’s national and international profile, setting a precedent for local enterprises in the global market. The African Energy Chamber spoke to Faria about her success and future aspirations.
How has your journey in the energy industry led to your current role? What key career milestones and achievements are you particularly proud of?
I was invited to participate as a consultant for the development of a new department for Enagol in Angola related to energy production, inspections and maintenance. Unfortunately, it was during the worst time ever in the industry – when there was a crash in oil prices – that caused the company to slow down. In order to survive, the company started to close some departments and downsized its workforce. I made myself indispensable to other departments by helping them with suggestions for improvement and change. After two years, I became a key person and was one of the few people who had control and knowledge of the entire company, from procedures and rules to personnel and strategy. I got promoted to Administrative Director and it was only a matter of time before becoming CEO.
The energy industry is known for its complexities. What challenges did you face along the way and how did you navigate them to achieve your goals?
The sector itself is very challenging and complex, but being a young woman, becoming a leader of a local company in Angola holds another level of adversities. Angola is facing difficult times and losses, especially for payments to suppliers abroad because we do not have access to foreign exchange. Registered foreign companies that operate in Angola – and are Enagol’s competitors – have the privilege of receiving some of the payment to the parent company outside of Angola, or to the consortium created to operate a specific project that is also outside Angola. This practice places our competitors in a position of strategic advantage over us because they have almost immediate availability of funds, and do not have to deal with transfer delays, exchange rate fluctuations or even market inflation that we face. We are always trying to innovate and find solutions within a system that does not help the locals.
What advice would you give to young women aspiring to excel in the energy sector? Are there any specific strategies that helped you to overcome obstacles and reach your current position?
In order to encourage more women into this life, Enagol became part of a group called Assea Ubuntu, which is an initiative to promote engagement and growth and give opportunities to young ladies to enter the sector. The initiative took place last year, and Enagol offered the opportunity to seven young ladies between 17-23 years old that were in their final year of engineering for ISPTEC (Institute Polytechnic of Technology and Science) or final year of high school for INP (National Institute of Petroleum) to know how the market operates and how they can enter to pursue a career. To achieve higher positions in this industry, the key is resilience, determination and belief in ourselves.
A career in energy can be demanding. Could you describe a typical day in your life?
We need to prioritize tasks and learn to delegate others. As a service provider, everything is urgent and important. It is very easy for a simple task to become a nightmare full of issues that require proactive thinking. Sometimes, I have to isolate myself to breathe, divide the problems into categories and start solving each one of them. Often, the solution to one problem solves another because they are somehow linked.
Looking ahead, what changes or advancements do you hope to see in the energy sector? How do you envision your role in shaping that future?
I wish for a more inclusive future for the sector – that the effort from local companies in shaping the future of local content could be innovative and lasting, so that the next generation could take better advantage and improve further. This is especially true for Angola, where service providers are the ones financing their clients’ operations with the use of local banks that are not designed appropriately for the sector. I wish for better and more equal opportunities for local companies and continuous development and capacity of the workforce.
