ENERGY WOMAN
“As A Woman in this Male Dominated Industry, you have to earn your place at the table” - Usiku MER: Congratulations on your award for G lobal Pe troleum women award for 2018, that is huge feat for you, massive, so tell us what does it mean to you as person?
S
alma Usiku, is an exploration Geologist with Azinam, which is an Oil and gas exploration company, part of the Azinam group that is based in Windhoek, Namibia. She was honoured with the prestigious Global Women Petroleum & Energy Club Award for Excellence in Africa 2018, at the just concluded Future Energy Africa conference. This award is presented annually to an individual that is demonstrating excellence in Africa’s oil & gas sector and is a role model for young women looking to enter the industry. In this exclusive interview with Majorwaves Energy Report’s Editor, Margaret Nongo-Okojokwu; Selma tells us about her journey to the top as a female geologist in a male dominated industry; how she rose up to the challenge, defying all odds to become outstanding in her field. Excerpts 30
S e l m a : It i s a recognition I wasn’t expecting, as I said in my speech this morning, it was a shock, because just l i sten i n g to the title: Global Women Pe t r o l e u m a n d Energy club award for in excellence in Africa, now the globe and Africa are really big places, too many talented women, I am like ‘where did they even find me?’, what have I done to deserve such an accolade, but at the same time, it is humbling because the little things I feel I am doing are creating a big impacts for others people who are watching, so it means, that my work is not in vain, it means that for everyone who was willing to give me an opportunity, that decision was not in vain, it means that everything that everyone who has invested in me and what I have invested in my own personal development was not in vain, someone is watching, someone is recognizing and now I have to use this platform that this award gives me to influence others, to recognize others, and help other recognize the power that they have and what they are doing. MER: tell us a little bit about your career, your work as a career person, how have you developed to this stage where you are now, what are your challenges and your success story
Majorwaves Energy Report Vol 1 No.01 November 2018
. Selma: you know, I really feel like my story isn’t unique in many aspects but I will tell it to you anyway, you know when I was younger, I was a typical tom-boy, so my activities were not conventionally girly, I was a lover of nature in the outside and those things were sort of, you know, I was extremely interested in them, and growing up in a country like Namibia with so many wide open spaces that are untouched, we went out a lot and so I had a curious nature of a child, and when I went to school, the natural inclination for Geography and Science, Mathematics subjects, it was almost like process of elimination, I don’t really like numbers, I don’t know if I will be able to handle indoor office situation, so outdoor and science came naturally to me, and those were some of the reasons why I decided to pursue a Geology degree. I did my under graduate degree in South Africa, at Rhodes university in western Cape, specifically in Geology and Environmental Science, and after graduation and that was around 2009, and many people know that that was the period of the Economic downturn to remember, when I was graduating, hoping to get in to a job, easy because I am from Namibia, where are in a country where there are so many Mines, that could be picked up anyway, Mines were retrenching people, that was number one and they are asking for people with 10-15 years experience and I haven’t been in school for 5 – 10 years, obviously I was devastated, because my parents have spent a lot of money to get that tertiary education,
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