The African Energy Indaba, which will be held from February 21 to 23 in Johannesburg, has teamed up with Eastern European regional energy forum Foren, said the South African National Energy Association (Sanea) chairperson Brian Statham.

“The Romania-based organisers requested that the Foren conference and the African Energy Indaba support and work with each other, as they saw synergies between the two events in terms of the aims of the events,” he said.

There was a need to merge and share developing and developed markets, technologies, skills, knowledge, solutions and experiences. The support and sharing of experiences between the two events would position them to better meet the respective market needs.

Foren was held every second year in Romania, while the African Energy Indaba was a yearly event in South Africa.

Meanwhile, the Indaba aimed to create a platform for achievements and successes, as well as failures, to be exposed so that others could learn from them, delve into the depth of challenges and attempt new solutions.

This year’s event would focus more on panels, as interactive engagements would allow delegates to exchange concepts and experiences, and harness intellectual capacity to further develop ways of ensuring sufficient energy for Africa.

Statham said that an aim of the Indaba was to seek more responsible and benign ways of using natural resources, such as fossil fuels or shale gas, as well as financing options and renewable energy.

“Over 75% of South Africans do not have access to electricity and the country needs to find cheap, reliable and environment-friendly ways of providing energy,” he said.
 

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