Generating value and creating agility in the evolving business landscape of power and utilities

With the firm’s goal to focus on ‘future proofing’ in an effort to prepare for both foreseeable and  unforeseeable forces that are fundamentally changing the power and utilities industry, KPMG has taken up a diamond sponsorship opportunity at the 2017 African Utility Week. This is part of the firm’s strategy to execute their mastery from an advisory perspective.

Apart from the wealth of knowledge that the firm has to offer to African Utility Week’s attendees, KPMG looks forward to exercising their commitment to helping organisations with robust, sustainable and flexible strategies, in addition to models that can adapt quickly in a dynamically unfolding future.

When KPMG’s experts were asked about the biggest challenges currently engulfing the sector, the first issue that they outlined was that energy security remains elusive on the African continent. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that two out of three people in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to electricity. This translates into 620 million people on the continent without electricity – and for those that have – the supply is unreliable and very expensive compared to world standards.

“There is an emerging trend in the sector. Utility-scale developments are decreasing, while we see a lot more of community-sized generation projects. Businesses and communities are also showing interest in becoming less dependent on the national grids. In rural Africa, especially, the economics of expanding the national grids do not make sense, hence there is a significant trend towards mini-grids and other off-grid solutions,” says Ahmed Jaffer, Chairman of KPMG in South Africa and the Head of Power and Utilities.

De Buys Scott, Senior Partner in Deal Advisory and Head of Infrastructure Advisory at KPMG in South Africa, adds that gravitating towards off-grid and smaller solutions in terms generation projects is a wise solution for the African continent. “These solutions are cost-effective as the costs that are invested in the general infrastructure of generation projects are eliminated in smaller scale solutions,” says De Buys.

Power and utilities companies globally face the triple challenge of improving environmental performance, keeping consumers’ costs down and maintaining system reliability. As a result, KPMG has developed a long-term strategy that seeks to continue investing in innovation, thought leadership, and refreshing existing methodologies that have proved to be effective over the years.

“I am eager to see a truly integrated resource plan with a more diverse baseload. It is essential for our audience to know that KPMG is a “one stop shop” for the power and water industry. As part of our strategy to perpetually manage unexpected changes, we are able to provide services through all project phases as well as to offer valuable solutions from a strategic, forensics, tax, internal audit and audit perspective,” concludes Jaffer.

African Utility Week and Energy Revolution Africa are organised by Spintelligent, leading Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser, and part of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK. Huawei has also been a longstanding supporter of another flagship event of Spintelligent, formerly known as WAPIC (West African Power Industry Convention) in Lagos, and rebranding as Future Energy Nigeria and returning in November this year.

Other leading events in Spintelligent’s power portfolio are Future Energy East Africa (formerly EAPIC), Future Energy Uganda and Future Energy Central Africa.