Event going ahead as planned despite water shortages 

Investment in water solutions is needed by the public and private sector to enable universal access, water security and resilient societies. African Utility Week will have a strong focus on water again this year from 15-17 May in Cape Town when the strategic water conference will showcase how partnerships, financial models and latest technological advances can make the greatest impact in meeting Africa's water demand. 

“We want utilities to start thinking out of the box on water solutions, capabilities and solutions,” says Gerardt P. Viljoen, Managing Director of Sensus SA and GM for Sensus in Africa, an event sponsor and one of the expert speakers at the water conference at African Utility Week. 

He continues: “the water situation in South Africa is not only worrisome it should be considered as THE top priority for any form of economic sustainability. Increasing storing capabilities, reviewing traditional catchment areas and weather pattern changes, recycling of water and waste water treatment, network infrastructure maintenance and demand side management should all be top NATIONAL priorities going forward.”

The Sensus SA MD adds: “it’s important to not only have smart metering. Smart metering should be intelligent. How to make smart metering intelligent and use it to solve infrastructure, supply and demand issues is what we are all about this year.”

The full interview with Gerardt Viljoen can be read here: http://www.african-utility-week.com/Sensus-interview  Sensus is a returning gold sponsor at the event.

Event going ahead as planned despite water shortages
Meanwhile, the organisers of African Utility Week have assured all stakeholders in this long running conference and exhibition that the event will go ahead as planned despite the current water restrictions in Cape Town.

“As a major event in the City, African Utility Week plays a crucial role in contributing towards the in-ward bound travel market,” says event director Evan Schiff, “by holding the event as planned, African Utility Week will continue to support the Cape Town economy as we cannot allow for there to be massive job losses on top of a water constrained situation.”

He adds: “at present, no events have been cancelled by the City, Provincial or National Government. Working together, we have ensured that each responsible party is doing what it can to ensure water savings and keeping events water-neutral. To this end, African Utility Week has engaged the City, venue, suppliers and all surrounding hotels to ensure that every opportunity has been taken to reduce water use and guarantee that attendees will have access to water.

”Please consult the African Utility Week website for FAQs on attending the show and managing your water usage.

Award-winning energy platform
The 18th annual African Utility Week will gather over 7000 decision makers from more than 80 countries to discuss the challenges, solutions and successes in the power, energy and water sectors on the continent. Along with multiple side events and numerous networking functions the event also boasts a seven track conference with over 300 expert speakers. The conference programme will address the latest challenges, developments and opportunities in the power and water sectors: ranging from generation, T&D, metering, technology and water.

The African Utility Week expo offers an extensive technical workshop programme that are CPD accredited, free to attend, hands-on presentations that take place in defined spaces on the exhibition floor. They discuss practical, day-to-day technical topics, best practices and product solutions that businesses, large power users and utilities can implement in their daily operations.

AUW wins two more AAXO ROAR Awards!
Earlier this month, African Utility Week won its second and third AAXO ROAR Awards (Association of African Exhibition Organisers) when it was named Best Trade Exhibition in 2017 in the 12000+ sqm category, as well as the Best Overall Exhibition for 2017.

Co-located to African Utility Week is another AAXO award winner for best confex in 2016, the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit, an international platform that brings together the full spectrum of the African real estate and infrastructure sectors.

African Utility Week is the flagship energy event organised by the multi-award winning Spintelligent, leading Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser, and part of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK. Other well-known energy events by Spintelligent are Future Energy Nigeria and Future Energy East Africa.

Dates for African Utility Week:
Conference and expo: 15-17 May 2018
Awards gala dinner:  16 May 2018
Site visits: 18 May 2018
Location: CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa
Website: http://www.african-utility-week.com & www.african-real-estate-summit.com   
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfricaUtilities   #AUW2018  
Linkedin: African Power Forum

Contact:
Senior communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3558
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

“The results to date speak for themselves”

Spintelligent, the multi-AAXO-award-winning Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser, had a strong first half of 2017 with all of four of its flagship events: African Utility Week, Agritech Expo Zambia, DRC Mining Week and Eduweek, pulling off record results and an exciting new Property Buyer Show drawing large crowds.

Spintelligent MD David Ashdown says "Exhibition and conference revenues are up year-on-year and attendee numbers are growing exponentially. The demand for face-to-face events as a platform to share knowledge and facilitate trade is increasing and proven to provide African buyers and sellers an improved ROI over traditional marketing medium."

“Winning four major AAXO event industry awards at the beginning of 2017 was immensely rewarding but it has also inspired us to work even harder and not rest on our laurels and the results to date speak for themselves,” says Spintelligent MD David Ashdown. He adds: “I am very proud of my team for their effort and commitment and am confident that the rest of the year will be as fulfilling and successful.”

• Education
  Most recently, the 11th edition of Eduweek took place at the Gallagher Estate in Johannesburg from 12-13 July and gathered 3,738 attendees over two days, 90 expert speakers and 161 exhibitors.
  
  
• Mining
  DRC Mining Week in Lubumbashi, DRC in June showed an astounding 67% growth with 2,691 attendees from 32 countries over three days with 131 exhibitors.
  
  
• Power & Energy
  In May, Cape Town’s CTICC once again hosted African Utility Week and this year also did not disappoint. The 17th edition of the event welcomed 7,477 attendees from 91 countries who attended the three-day event – this was up from 6,445 attendees last year. The expo featured more than 300 exhibitors from 11 different countries and 284 expert speakers and 66 utilities from 20 African countries were represented.
  
  
• Agriculture
  Agritech Expo Zambia in Chisamba in April featured a record number of more than 18,000 visitors, seven international pavilions and a VIP attendance that included five cabinet ministers and the Zambian President Edgar Lungu who visited the event for the third year in a row.
  
  
• Real Estate
  Spintelligent also launched its first Property Buyer Show in Cape Town in April, a unique exhibition aimed at first-time residential buyers or property investors, which drew some 3,100 visitors. Spintelligent’s Publishing division has also been very busy so far this year.

Says David Ashdown: “besides never missing a day to deliver daily headline news, we have published 14 editions of our long-running, leading trade publications ESI-Africa, Mining Review Africa, Metering & Smart Energy International and look forward to another 12 content-rich editions until the New Year.”

He continues: “our prestige publications are boasting a new layout, the African Power Elites 2018 has achieved new heights by doubling incoming nominations in comparison to 2017, whilst for the first time, our African Mining Elites 2018 opens the door to new and exciting awards, highlighting excellence in the mining industry. Our Global Smart Energy Elites 2018, featuring the latest insights into the global leaders of the international smart energy network, is due to be released in October.”

Africa, a continental approach
“Spintelligent has a busy five months ahead,” says MD David Ashdown, “particularly rolling out our new Future Energy franchise of energy conferences and exhibitions across Africa” and in the process renaming some of Africa’s most iconic regional power events in East, West and Central Africa, including EAPIC and WAPIC, reflecting the optimism and potential of the energy and power sectors on the continent.”

He adds: “Africa continues to show economic development and growth, and we look forward to continuing to realise our potential and, while growing our key sector portfolios organically, our strategic path also includes being open to partnership and acquisition opportunities.”

ROAR Awards 2017

Earlier this year Spintelligent won four major awards at AAXO’s ROAR Organiser and Exhibitor Awards in Johannesburg:

• Best Trade Exhibition 6001-12000 sqm category: African Utility Week, joint winner with World Travel Market
• Best Trade & Consumer Exhibition +12000 sqm Award: Agritech Expo Zambia
• Distinction in Social Responsibility Award: Agritech Expo Zambia
• Best Confex Award: African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit
• Social Responsibility Award (finalist): DRC Mining Week

Upcoming Spintelligent events in 2017

• 13-14 September:  Future Energy Uganda, Kampala
• 2-3 October: Future Energy Central Africa, Yaoundé
• 4-5 October: Eduweek Western Cape, Cape Town
• 16-19 October: Nigeria Mining Week, Abuja
• 25-29 October: African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit and Property Buyer Show, Johannesburg
• 7-8 November: Future Energy Nigeria, Lagos
• 13-14 November: Kenya Mining Forum, Nairobi
• 29-30 November: Future Energy East Africa, Nairobi
• 29-30 November: AgriBusiness Congress East Africa, Kampala

Spintelligent is well known for organising exhibitions and conferences across the continent in the infrastructure, real estate, energy, mining, agriculture and education sectors.  Its publishing division reaches the key sectoral decision makers for metering, power and mining. Spintelligent is part of the UK-based Clarion Events Group.

Website: http://www.spintelligent.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/spintelligent

Media contact
Senior communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3500
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.