The South African government is taking the initiative to deal with the issue of key skills shortages in the country by offering young professionals internships in conjunction with the French government.

This is being done through the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa) internship programme that was established in 2006 as part of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) initiative.

The aim of the internship programme is to offer young professionals an opportunity to acquire skills from their international counterparts to use in growing the country’s economy, while dealing with the skills deficit.

“The internship programme comprises a six-week stay in France – for two weeks, we undergo managerial training and, for four weeks, we intern with companies to learn more about our different chosen career fields,” says Mulilo Renewable Energy incoming senior legal and compliance director Linda Mabhena.

Mabhena is undergoing an internship focusing on the energy sector. “I am one of the beneficiaries of this year’s internship intake of 66 candidates, of which 80% are women. The number has almost doubled from last year’s 34 candidates,” she says.

Mabhena is among the few black female renew- able-energy specialist attorneys in South Africa. Her career achievements include being part of the team that negotiated State-owned power utility Eskom’s loan agreement at the World Bank offices, in Washington DC, this year for its renewable-energy projects.

“I also previously advised clients on the renewable-energy feed-in tariffs for their renewable-energy projects in South Africa,” she says.

“The selection process for the internship was rigorous and top achievers in their respective sectors were selected. I am grateful to the South African government to have afforded me this opportunity to grow in my career, and also to impart the skills learned to further contribute to the country’s economic growth and skills transfer,” she says.

Mabhena notes it is important to have mentors, especially in the scarce skills careers. She says, if it were not for the support of her parents and previous employer law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf, particularly partner Scott Brodsky, and the opportunities she was provided with, she could not have made it this far.

“I encourage young attorneys to focus on energy as a speciality because, with the shortage of energy in Africa, particularly South Africa, there will be an increase in renewable-energy projects in the near future.

Let us be part of the solution to our country’s problem by creating the necessary framework and securing sustainable deals to secure sufficient energy supply for future generations,” she concludes.