On July 15, 2016, EkoElectricty Distribution Company (EKEDC) in Nigeria hosted 35 girls for its first Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, under USAID’s Engendering Industries program. The event encouraged the girls to continue learning, consider futures without gender limitations and see the many job options in the energy sector.

Queen Esther, a Nigerian school girl, had always dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. However, after spending a day at her father’s workplace, Nigeria’s main electricity utility, EkoElectricty Distribution Company (EKEDc), she became excited about new job possibilities. “Now I want to become an engineer because it’s really cool!” she said.

Thirty-five girls from ages 7 to 13 spent an entire day at EKEDC attending its first ever Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, supported by USAID’s Engendering Industries program. The event was designed to encourage Nigerian girls to continue to study, think about their futures without gender limitations, and expose them to the many job options in the energy sector—not a common career choice for Nigerian women.

“Promoting gender equality is fundamental to our company,” Engineer Oladele Amoda, General Manager and CEO of EKEDC, told the girls during their visit. “Already, women hold four out of our company’s six top management positions.” In a country where women are disadvantaged in most aspects of livelihood and well-being—including employment, income and health—EKEDC sets a positive example to follow.

Nigeria’s energy sector and electricity generation sparked the girls’ interest, as they learned from a three-dimensional dam prototype how energy is generated through hydropower, and then transmitted and distributed to light city streets. The model itself was created by five Nigerian architecture students who built it as an interactive learning tool.

The girls also learned about different types of lighting and energy conservation by feeling the heat produced by different types of bulbs and seeing the amount of energy consumed measured on working meters. After the event, many parents said their daughters checked the light bulbs at home to be sure they were using energy-saving bulbs and turned off unnecessary lights. Some also inspected their homes for safe wiring.

“If you could only have one item to power at home, what would it be?” the girls were asked during their visit. They unanimously said “computer” because with a computer they could learn, watch their shows, play games and even charge their cell phones. The day spent at the Nigerian energy utility opened the girls’ eyes to the role electricity plays in their own lives and—for the first time—many of the girls thought to add engineering to the list of their future dream jobs.

Having women join the energy sector is a win for everyone. Studies have shown that investing in girls and women will increase productivity and promote sustainable growth, peace and better health for the next generation. In addition, energy companies are often among the largest employers in a country. Increased access to jobs in the sector means greater access to jobs for women.

The Bring Your Daughter to Work Day in Nigeria was part of USAID’s Engendering Industries program aiming to increase women’s professional participation in the energy distribution sector and expand women’s career options, while improving the quality and cost of electricity services. In 2016, USAID has also supported Bring Your Daughter to Work Days in Macedonia, Jordan and Kenya.