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Towards growing African economies: Addressing the African power and water sectors

4th January 2016

  

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African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa  (0.07 MB)

Company Announcement - The 16th annual African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa conference and trade exhibition returns to Cape Town from 17-19 May 2016 will be a gathering of some 6000 engineers, stakeholders and solution providers from around the globe. The event will feature 250 exhibitors, over 220 speakers, a six stream strategic conference, free-to-attend technical conference streams on the expo floor, three high-profile keynote sessions, breakfast roundtable discussions, a one-day Nuclear Forum and two-day Gas-to-Power Forum, technical site visits and the coveted Industry Awards gala dinner.

As the African continent continues its development it is still facing significant headwinds. While economies have been growing, the lack of access to electricity – approximately 600-million people in sub-saharan Africa do not have grid access- has had severe impacts on GDP growth, with the concomitant inability of governments to provide crucial services to their people.

According to the McKinsey Brighter Africa report, the region has 13% of the world’s population, but 48% of the world’s people without access to electricity. Governments are addressing this concern but there is great need for discussion and learning about the best routes to solving these problems – what are the best technological solutions? Type of generation, transmission and distribution challenges and of the course the crucial question of how to fund this development while still allowing access for the greatest amount of people.

In discussions with the appointed 100+-member Conference Advisory Board, and through additional industry research with key industry stakeholders, the most pressing industry challenges include low tariffs making it difficult to invest in new infrastructure; power shortages and poor quality of supply - leading to load shedding;  poor maintenance  and lack of investment into T&D infrastructure and poor regional governance and management.

The biggest challenges facing the Water Sector includes how to attract investment to ensure that water utilities remain financially sustainable; water loss management and how best to manage the ever-more-scarce water resources. Energy and water efficiency are also hot new topics, as utilities look to save costs, energy and water by implementing efficiency management systems. There will be strong focus on the water-energy nexus for 2016, and looking at opportunities in wastewater and sanitation management.

African Utility Week 2016 provides a platform for regional and cross-border discussion and collaboration, enabling integrated planning across regions and sectors. The conference gathers all facets of the industry – from government through to vendors – to connect over best practice solutions, discover the latest technological offerings and network with existing colleagues and source new business.

We believe the best way to learn and share knowledge is through successful case studies and so expect many success stories in clean energy, embedded generation and successful smart metering roll-outs. Our Finance and Investment Forum will give you an in-depth insight into how to achieve bankable power projects and how to tap into the vast financing opportunities that are out there. We will also debate whether cost-reflective tariffs are a solution to Africa’s energy crisis and analyse how energy storage could be a game changer for Africa’s energy security.

The latest smart technologies are transforming consumers into prosumers of electricity: “the customer is now king” and we will address how the utility needs to transform it’s business model in order to enhance customer satisfaction and thus ensure utility competitiveness in a radically changing market.

“There’s no doubt that renewable energy as well as smart technology are changing the way power and water utilities operate and deal with their customers. The industry is constantly challenged and presented with new opportunities and it is therefore vital for power and water professionals to share knowledge and collaborate on a regional basis.” this is according to Evan Schiff, who heads up the event.

African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa provides the perfect platform for not only regional power planning and knowledge-sharing, but also the unique opportunity to have very important cross-sector discussions and the opportunity to integrate energy-water planning. Lungile Mashele, Energy Specialist, Development Bank of Southern Africa, and one of our Advisory Board members said that, “Africa is open for business and with this statement comes many challenges such as the link between water and energy as well as the availability of these resources. Africa needs a consolidated approach in addressing its own issues, Africa should be primed to respond to the world and tell it what needs to be done. Africa should be at the forefront of providing sustainable solutions for its people”.

Keynote Speakers
There will be three prestigious keynote sessions. Join us to watch these inspiring keynote speakers:
• H.E Dr. Elham Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim (Mrs), Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, African Union, Ehiopia
• Michael Liebreich, Chairman of the Advisory Board and Founder, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, UK
• James E. Rogers, Former CEO and Chairman of the Board, Duke Energy, USA
• Anton Eberhard, Professor: Management Programme in Infrastructure Reform and Regulation, Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• Lawrence Musaba, Co-ordination Centre Manager, Southern African Power Pool, Zimbabwe

Industry Awards
Lawrence Musaba, one of our confirmed keynote speakers was also the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 African Utility Week Industry Awards. Next year, the third edition of the prestigious African Utility Week Industry Awards will again celebrate the triumphs and successes of Africa’s leading power and water projects and people in twelve awards categories, including Water Utility Executive of the Year, Clean Energy Project of the Year and Outstanding Woman in Power.

We are very excited to announce our two new categories:
• Pioneer in Project Finance
The award for the team that went where most feared, pushed boundaries and became a game changer in structuring an innovative finance deal. Or for an exciting concept that has the potential to create real change to the way projects are financed.
• Future Leader Award
This award recognises a person under the age of 35 who has made an outstanding contribution to the energy or water industries. This young professional has had outstanding career achievements to date and a strong potential to play a leading role in their sector going forward.

CEO Forum: important platform
During African Utility Week, the Utility CEO Forum gathers C-level executives from Africa's leading utilities together to discuss pressing topics within the industry and to accelerate cross-border collaboration across Africa. Utility executives from countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Namibia, Ghana, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa are expected to return.
Great news is that we are introducing a Water Utility CEO Forum that will run in conjunction with the Power Utility CEO Forum. This will allow for further opportunity for cross-sector integrated planning to improve efficiencies.
Ayanda Nakedi, Executive Director: Renewables, Eskom in South Africa describes the CEO Forum as “an important platform where African utilities could share the challenges and learnings which are critical for survival in a dynamic changing environment. We still have a challenge of electrifying our dark continent and take advantage of our abundant resources. Africa is full of opportunities.” 

Trade Exhibition
Eskom is again the host utility for the event while the Department of Energy is the host ministry. Other event partners are the South African Independent Power Producers Association and the South African Electrotechnical Export Council. 

Leading global suppliers of technology and services to the sector have already signed up as high-profile partners at African Utility Week, including Accenture, Edison Power Group, KPMG, Landis+Gyr, Rubbytad and Shell, who are all platinum sponsors. 

The African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa trade exhibition will be free to attend when registering in advance and showcase energy saving technologies and services for the industry and feature hands-on demonstrations and CPD-accredited technical workshops on the exhibition floor.

African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa are organised by Spintelligent, leading Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser, and the African office of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK. Other flagship events in Spintelligent’s power portfolio are East African Power Industry Convention (EAPIC), West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC), iPAD Rwanda Power & Mining Investment Forum and iPAD Cameroon Energy & Infrastructure Forum.

Dates for African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa 2016:
Conference and expo: 17-19 May 2016
Awards gala dinner:  18 May 2016
Site visits: 20 May 2016

Location: CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa

Websites: www.african-utility-week.com 
Linkedin: African Power Forum

Contact:
Communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3558
mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  annemarie.roodbol@spintelligent.com

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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