Jul 10, 2026 · 36 min · 12 segments
**Beyond Access: The Energy Problem We Keep Ignoring** What if the real energy challenge isn't access, but what people can actually do with that access? On this episode of *Watts Your Impact*, we…
Folawiyo AminuGuestWatts Your Impact HostHostYeah, so obviously you have a lot of theoretical background in energy, and I'm sure mostly from a technical point of view, right? So at what point did you transition from it being just technical to it being practical, financial, economical?
So as I said, like growing up in Nigeria, growing up in Lagos is top of mind and then you think surely there are better ways and how do you, you know, growing up and going into this field, it's always been how can I impact Nigeria's energy challenges.
So even going to school, focusing on power systems, like specializing in power systems, power electronics, I've always had that mindset that Well, one, if it was pure technical, there were more interesting technical things that I could
have
Yeah, there were control systems.
Control
embedded systems so those you know robotics you know self-driving cars all of that were subfields under electrical engineering which were more interesting at the time
but
again for me it's always been okay sure i could do this i'm able to do this i can compete with the best in the world but where can i make the most impact um will i build a self will i build a robot in nigeria is that where is that where the biggest challenge is maybe not Obviously, I'd always focused on the engineering side, power systems, power electronics, but I tried my best to take these multi-disciplinary courses from Ross Business School, from different departments and faculties to just be a bit more to get a bit more broad knowledge, because I think even from early on, I've known that it's not a technology thing, meaning energy technology has been solved for hundreds of years.
Yeah, so obviously you have a lot of theoretical background in energy, and I'm sure mostly from a technical point of view, right? So at what point did you transition from it being just technical to it being practical, financial, economical?
So as I said, like growing up in Nigeria, growing up in Lagos is top of mind and then you think surely there are better ways and how do you, you know, growing up and going into this field, it's always been how can I impact Nigeria's energy challenges.
So even going to school, focusing on power systems, like specializing in power systems, power electronics, I've always had that mindset that Well, one, if it was pure technical, there were more interesting technical things that I could
have
Yeah, there were control systems.
Control
embedded systems so those you know robotics you know self-driving cars all of that were subfields under electrical engineering which were more interesting at the time
but
again for me it's always been okay sure i could do this i'm able to do this i can compete with the best in the world but where can i make the most impact um will i build a self will i build a robot in nigeria is that where is that where the biggest challenge is maybe not Obviously, I'd always focused on the engineering side, power systems, power electronics, but I tried my best to take these multi-disciplinary courses from Ross Business School, from different departments and faculties to just be a bit more to get a bit more broad knowledge, because I think even from early on, I've known that it's not a technology thing, meaning energy technology has been solved for hundreds of years.
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