Selamawit Beneberu

Selamawit Beneberu is energy professional and electrical engineer with over 14 years of progressive experience in Ethiopia’s renewable energy sector, with a particular focus on off-grid energy access and rural electrification. Her work has consistently bridged the gap between policy, implementation, and capacity building enabling thousands of households, public institutions, and enterprises to access reliable, clean energy solutions.

Selamawit has been at the forefront of off-grid energy development in Ethiopia, contributing to the design and implementation of over 10 solar mini-grids and the electrification of more than 50 public institutions. She has also played a key role in scaling up solar home systems, clean cooking solutions, and productive use of energy (PUE) applications for rural communities supporting income-generating activities, local service delivery, and women-led enterprises.

She brings a strong track record in capacity building, having organized and delivered extensive training programs for government counterparts, energy professionals, and private sector actors in technical, business, and policy-related areas. She has facilitated multi-stakeholder policy dialogues, technical support missions, and cross-sector coordination efforts to ensure long-term sustainability and local ownership.

Currently, Selamawit serves as the Grant Program Manager under the ADELE 3.1 Results-Based Financing (RBF) window, working as a Grant Administration Support Consultant with Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) for the Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE). In this role, she manages the performance-based funding mechanism aimed at accelerating private sector-led off-grid energy access expansion across Ethiopia.

She previously worked for over a decade with the GIZ Energy Program Ethiopia, where she served in multiple roles including energy advisor, senior expert, and mini-grid component manager. Her responsibilities included technical assistance, business development support, and integration of cross-cutting priorities such as gender equality, population health, and social inclusion into project operations. She also served as GIZ Ethiopia’s national staff representative and the gender and social focal point for the GIZ-EnDev program for three years.

In June 2024, Selamawit co-founded Lunar Consulting PLC, a firm dedicated to providing technical, strategic, and advisory services in the energy sector. The company aims to contribute to sustainable energy development in Ethiopia and beyond, supporting initiatives in renewable energy access, energy enterprise development, and clean technology deployment.

She holds an MBA from Addis Ababa University, as well as an MSc and BSc in Electrical Engineering. From 2019 until September 2024, she served as Vice Chairperson of the Ethiopian Women in Energy Association (EWiEn), where she actively led gender-inclusive energy policy dialogues and mentorship programs for young women in the energy sector.

Earlier in her career, Selamawit served as a process engineer in Ethiopia’s defense communication department and contributed to research, manufacturing, and assembly at the Defense High Tech Industry. She also gained early teaching experience as a part-time lecturer at various private technical colleges.