The Africa Energy Indaba 2022 was hosted as a hybrid event in Cape Town on March 1st – 3rd and delivered a physical in-person exhibition under COVID-19 conditions. In their successful execution of a hybrid event, the Organisers enabled a vast number of attendees, both in-person and virtually, to assemble, learn, network, and exchange insights pertaining to the dynamic realm of African energy. For the first time since 2020, the energy sector came together to attend this most notable African event and the exhilaration over the reunion was pulpable.

As Host City Partner of the AEI, Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis welcomed speakers, delegates, exhibitors and visitors to the AEI event.  He underscored the importance of energy security and the City’s plans to realise this as quickly and sustainably as possible – especially as residents continued to suffer owing to unreliable, unsustainable, and unaffordable electricity.  He stated that renewable energy sourced from Independent Power Producers was at the core of Cape Town’s strategy in its quest to minimise the impact on climate change.  In this respect the City is clearly a leading player in the national climate effort.

Expressing support for this project, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe delivered his keynote address, emphasising that notwithstanding the vast individual energy resources across the continent, including mineral resources that were catalytic for a low carbon and environmentally sustainable world, energy poverty still prevailed. He further called for Africa to define its own Just Energy Transition that would economically empower and enable the continent to grow with its own agenda and execution.

Participants made intensive use of the three-day conference to advance future projects, share information and not only establish new but maintain existing networks. Speakers and luminaries from the energy landscape gathered to discuss, debate, and pursue lasting solutions to enable adequate energy supply across the continent. Expert advice and insights were imparted concerning the opportunities available in the Just Transition to sustainable energy systems with the expectation of addressing the challenge of energy poverty.

The conference covered highly relevant topics of energy policy and the role of government, energy funding, green hydrogen, grid technologies, renewable and cleaner energy, energy storage, energy for transport and energy efficiency. Further, the AEI served as the ideal platform to not only unite the African energy sector but demonstrate cutting-edge innovation, thereby providing a stage for knowledge transfer and business opportunities for industry stakeholders.

Hosting world-class industry organisations, the energy exhibition demonstrated its commitment to providing the solutions Africa requires to meet its growing energy demands. The exhibition proved especially valuable to enterprises wishing to showcase solutions for the benefit of Africa. Moreover, because of the hybrid functionality, exhibitors were presented with the opportunity to promote their companies to business counterparts, global investors, buyers, and governments worldwide.

The event fostered essential communication among energy stakeholders, providing them with access to relevant networks. Furthermore, attendees were not only exposed to industry trends and emerging technologies, but also content and ideas that will ultimately empower individuals and energy enterprises to thrive in this intensely competitive sector.

The AEI 2022 event represented an important node for energy industry professionals to exchange knowledge, experience and information and confirmed AEI’s commitment to meaningfully contribute to the development of the African energy sector for the benefit of all Africa’s people.