The annual African Utility Week conference and exhibition has solidified its reputation as the continent's largest exhibition for utilities and large industrial end users with record visitor and exhibitor numbers. Eskom CEO Brian Dames' opening address at the event, which took place at Nasrec in Johannesburg from 21-24 May this year, made news headlines, while global sponsors such as MTN, Vodacom, Deloitte, Eaton, Powertech were among the many technology giants at the utility expo.

The 12th edition of African Utility Week, which is organised by Cape Town-based Spintelligent, broke records on all fronts this year: from the staggering 9048m² indoor and outdoor exhibition space for 194 exhibitors to the 4900 visitor registrations from 56 countries. Representatives from 79 utilities from across Africa attended the event while 128 industry experts addressed more than 930 conference delegates.

Feedback from some of the many rewarded attendees:
"I was very impressed by how well the event was organised."
Deon Joubert, Eskom, South Africa

"Thanks for the wonderful AUW Conference 2012. We enjoyed it tremendously."
Sandy Tickodri Togboa, Chairman, Ugandan Electricity Generation Company Limited, Uganda

"It was an event worth attending as it linked us up to the bigger water and energy family of Africa and beyond".
Steve Mwale, Development Advisor, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, Zambia

"We are delighted that the site tour met the delegates' expectations and thanks again for considering Johannesburg Water to be a partner in this international conference."
Puleng Molepi, Communications Officer, Johannesburg Water, South Africa

Exciting targets with strong support from exhibitors
The event has exciting targets for next year, namely 220 exhibitors and more than 5000 attendees. "The African Utility Week team pulled off an impressive event in May", says the new event director Russell Hughes, "and thereby turning it into an internationally recognised, must-attend power and water event for all African utilities." He continues: "the strong support of our exhibitors will now enable us to produce a truly world class showcase of power and water solutions to the fast growing African market. Next year's exhibition will focus on the latest industry launches, practical solutions to our delegates' biggest challenges and profound insight and knowledge through an impressive array of free workshops on the exhibition floor."

Russell Hughes says the vision of the African Utility Week team is to deliver a quality service to all attendees and double the engagement time between delegates and exhibitors. "Currently boasting the highest representation of any African utility event, with 25 out of 54 African countries attending in 2012, we still aim to double this and secure 100% representation from the entire continent. Any company with an interest in Africa's power and water industry cannot afford to miss this flagship trade fair."

South African utility Eskom and the Ministries of Energy, Water Affairs and local municipalities such as Johannesburg's City Power and the City of Cape Town have been key event partners for many years. Large African utilities such as Tanesco, Snel, NERC, PHCN, ZESCO have also been regular visitors over the years.

For all the event statistics and information about African Utility Week 2012, including the media coverage, marketing and promotion reports and quotes from satisfied delegates and exhibitors, download the post-event report on the event website.

The dates for next year's African Utility Week are:
Exhibition & Conference: 14-15 May 2013
Pre-conference Workshops: 13 May 2013
Site Visits: 16 May 2013
Location: CTICC, Cape Town