ACCIONA Industrial S.A confirms as Silver Sponsor for the upcoming 5th Annual Southern #Africa #Power Summit 2019! #SSAPOW19

SOUTHERN AFRICA’S PREMIER POWER & RENEWABLE ENERGY EVENT 29TH – 31ST OCTOBER 2019 CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

At this year's Southern Africa Power Summit 2019 we will be providing a platform to address the following:

• Improving ageing power infrastructure
• Developing new power infrastructure
• Renewable power innovations
• Gas to power technologies
• Transmission & distribution solutions
• More cost effective temporary power solutions and much more

To be part of the discussions next month in Cape Town contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Two leading programmes celebrating excellence and innovation in the African power and energy sector, have joined forces to honour the continent’s leading energy projects and pioneers. The African Power & Energy Elites publication and the African Power, Energy & Water Industry Awards have aligned for their 2020 editions with a single nomination and selection process across a set of complementary categories.

For the last six years, the coveted African Power, Energy & Water Industry Awards have been taking place during African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa conference and exhibition in Cape Town. Meanwhile, the prestigious African Power & Energy Elites publication has celebrated leadership and successful projects in the sector since 2016. The newly combined awards programme will be known as the African Power & Energy Elites and offer even more benefits, recognition and exposure for the finalists and winners, apart from the quality publication and glamorous awards evening. These benefits include access to, and speaking opportunities at leading energy events on the continent, a seat at the awards evening, a VIP tour of Cape Town and surrounds and an on-camera interview at the Awards evening.

The respective Elites categories are focused on excellence in leadership and pioneering projects and are applicable to both the public and private sectors, extending across power generation, transmission and distribution, water, independent power producers and project developers.    The final selection of African Power & Energy Elites projects and leaders is made by an external advisory board composed of experienced industry figures from around the world

Nomination categories

Leadership
These are industry influencers who are innovative in their leadership approaches and strategies to improve the greater power and energy, and water value chain on a regional or country level. These leaders can be active in the private or public sectors and can include academia. Their influential role should be setting benchmarks in their respective industry sectors including, but not limited to, project design and development, engineering, technology and innovation, data related projects, mentoring and coaching of colleagues, legislation and finance.

Generation Innovation and Optimisation
Projects in which electricity producers have improved thermal power generation efficiency and/or capacity by developing and implementing advanced and innovative technology and solutions into an existing or new power plant. Things to consider include reduced operational or deferred capital expenditures, carbon and other emissions reductions, life extension, and plant upgrades. This category is applicable to projects that fall within either small, medium and large-scale.

Renewable Energy Generation Innovation and Optimisation
Projects in which electricity producers have utilised renewable power generation and new business offerings to meet growing customer demand for cleaner energy options. This can include the utilisation of blockchain or peer to peer trading facilitation, complex stakeholder engagement, utility facilitated residential storage or a complete restructuring of a business to accommodate the technology. This category is applicable to projects that fall within either small, medium and large-scale.

Rural Electrification
Electrification projects that have made a considerable positive impact to increasing energy access and electrification rates in urban, rural and informal settlements. These projects can be initiatives driven by government, private developers, or public institutions. The project can include any form of technology that increases power distribution to unelectrified communities for use in homes, schools, healthcare facilities, agriculture, and small businesses.

Transmission & Distribution
Projects that have provided growth in the transmission and distribution of electricity either locally, nationally or regionally. These projects can include LV, MV and HV new build programmes, maintenance projects, service delivery initiatives, technology roll-out programmes, revenue protection measures, technical and non-technical loss reduction, grid integration, and initiatives to increase network stability. Projects should have faced complex challenges.

Smart Cities
Projects undertaken as part of a smart city initiative which have driven an integrated energy, transportation, water or gas system as part of an overall city plan. Initiatives can include increased access to data which has led to energy, water or gas savings or enhanced management, or the overall implementation of a water, gas or electricity management and/or supply programme, wastewater management, green buildings and energy efficient programmes, transportation within the energy efficiency framework.

Finance & Investment
These models should be exemplary in their fields which can be in the form of traditional financing models, FinTech and interactive platforms such as crowdfunding that attribute to the development of small, medium and large-scale power projects.

Digital Transformation
The most transformative product or project of 2019/2020 – this can include innovations across the water, power and energy value chain (generation; transmission; distribution). Additionally, innovation and progression in the use of data & analytics; significant meter rollouts; and innovations in research and development, training and skills development.

Deadlines

• 30 Aug 2019: Nominations close
• 30/31 Jan 2020: Digital publication is released to market on ESI Africa with the shortlisted people and projects
• 13 May 2020: Awards evening at African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa

To nominate a person or project: https://www.clarion-events-group.com/AfricanElites_
Nominations Category descriptions can also be found at https://www.esi-africa.com/regional-news/africa/nomination-categories-african-power-energy-elites-2020/

The African Power & Energy Elites is an annual journal produced by ESI Africa in collaboration with the Clarion Power & Energy Series recognising industry achievements across the power and energy value chain.

African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa is the flagship energy event organised by Spintelligent, a multi-award-winning Cape Town-based exhibition and conference producer across the continent in the energy, infrastructure, mining, real estate and agriculture sectors. Other well-known events by Spintelligent include Future Energy East Africa, Future Energy Nigeria, the Utility CEO Forums, Nigeria Mining Week and DRC Mining Week. Spintelligent is part of the UK-based Clarion Events Group and African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa form part of Clarion Energy, which runs over 40 events that cover the oil, gas, power and energy sectors, making it one of Clarion Events’ largest portfolios.

Contacts
For exclusive sponsorship opportunities contact:
Errol Bryce: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Stephen Campbell: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Loudon Cito: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For nomination enquiries contact:
Ashley Theron-Ord: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Natalie Bacon: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Media 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 College of Magic, Cape Town’s only magical arts organisation, is set to cast an enchanting spell and dazzle audiences at the Artscape Theatre on Sunday 6 October 2019, with their latest production - World of Magic!

A magical journey awaits audiences as they are whisked through a fantastical world filled with incredible illusions, dazzling magic, hilarious antics and fun-filled fantasy for the whole family.  Celebrating 39 years of teaching the art of magic and its allied arts as well as vital life-skills to children and adults in 2019, the College of Magic is renowned for hosting enthralling mega magical events that captivate audiences and leave them begging for more fantastical fun.

The World of Magic! spectacular show, directed by Santika Naidoo, will feature some of the Mother City’s exceptional entertainers, illusionists, clowns, jugglers and more, as they blur the lines between illusion and reality and a world of make-believe comes to life.

Naidoo, a graduate of the College of Magic and a member of its voluntary teaching staff,  is currently a full-time student in her final year at the University of Cape Town, studying a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Television, Psychology and Organisational Psychology. Passionate about transforming the roles of females in the male-dominated magic industry,  Naidoo is thrilled to be heading up this new show:

“We’re specialise in making the impossible possible at the College of Magic and having spent years training under the tutelage of strong female magicians, I look forward to not just producing World of Magic!, a spectacular show, but also helping our young girls find their own voice and performance styles, joining the show’s amazing, diverse cast. Come one and all and experience the magic for yourselves this October!”, says the excited director.

A World Of Magic awaits Capetonian families at the Artscape Theatre!Join the College of Magic’s incredible cast at the not-to-be-missed World of Magic! spectacular shows on Sunday 6 October 2019 at 2pm and 6pm.Tickets are R165 with discounts for family bookings. Book your tickets TODAY at Computicket.

For more info, please call +27(0)21 683 5480 ,send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., visit www.collegeofmagic.com or follow us on Facebook.

ENGEN PITCH & POLISH IS CELEBRATING 10 YEARS!Pitch to win R80 000 in cash for your biz!

Running your own business? Want to run your own business? ENGEN Pitch & Polish is the platform you need to launch yourself on to the path of success.

Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, ENGEN Pitch & Polish is a national entrepreneurial workshop and competition programme that – so far – has helped over 10 000 entrepreneurs improve the way they pitch their businesses to potential investors.

As all entrepreneurs know, a perfectly polished pitch is one of the keys to growing and succeeding in business.

The ten-year edition of the programme is being hosted in partnership with Engen Petroleum, Nedbank and Raizcorp and local partner, NYDA. You can register as a delegate to attend the workshop or – if you feel you have what it takes – you can complete an online entry form to be selected as a contestant.

During one exhilarating, fun, exciting and free day, participants undergo comprehensive and interactive entrepreneurial training on how to pitch like a pro!

The session is facilitated by Justin Cohen, best-selling author, international speaker and TV talk-show host.

After the training session, contestants pitch their ideas or businesses to the whole audience. This is where things get really interesting, with both Justin and the audience providing feedback on how pitches can be improved. The regional winners of each leg will have the opportunity to be crowned the ultimate pitch champion at the final glittering round of the competition held in Johannesburg later this year.

There are many funders and investors invited to the final and, over the years, finalists (not necessarily the winners) have received millions of rands in investments and hundreds of thousands of rands in grants.

Book your place now for the Cape Town workshop on 3 August. SMS “Pitch” to 43719 (SMSs charged at 50c) or visit www.pitchandpolish.com to complete an entry form, and maybe you will find that R1 million investment you desire.

Cape Town, South Africa: Today WeSit, an online babysitting company connecting parents to professionally vetted babysitters, announced that they have signed up 1000 babysitters to service parents in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria.

The company is growing at breakneck pace, having only begun operations in March of this year. Of the rapid growth in operations, WeSit CEO and cofounder Nqobile Msibi said “Reaching 1000 babysitters is a noteworthy milestone and we think the market for our service is only really starting to take shape.

Everyone on the team is excited about it and we’re happy to finally be able to service multiple cities. Personally vetting each and every applicant to our platform is how I know we’re delivering the highest quality of service to busy parents.”

About WeSit: WeSit is an online on-demand babysitting startup based in Cape Town, South Africa. Operating since March of 2019 and now available in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria.

A community-focused residential and commercial village in the Stellenbosch winelands has been judged as South Africa’s best mixed-use property development, placing it in line for one of the most prestigious property awards in the world.

Nooitgedacht Village, which has attracted investment of over R1billion since it’s 2013 launch, was voted the country’s best by the African Property Awards, and will now vie for the title of Best Mixed-Use Development in Africa at the International Property Awards, known as the “Oscars” of the property industry. The village is part of the historic Nooitgedacht Estate and combines Old Cape and Bo-Kaap architecture with modern commercial and retail components.

Property expert Toni Enderli describes the village as “a community model of the future where you can safely live, work and play without getting into a car.” “It’s authentic, sustainable and affordable. Apartments start from R1.4-million and amenities include a hotel, restaurant, medical centre and gym, all located around a two-hectare eco wetland park.

Residents also have access to the 200ha Nooitgedacht farm for cycling, running, picnicking and more.” The village is up against developments from the rest of Africa, Dubai and Arabia, judged by a panel of 80 property experts and chaired by members of the UK’s House of Lords. Winners will be announced at a gala event in London on 12 June, attended by developer, Werner Wirth.

-- ENDS --

For media information, contact Hudah Levendall or Kauthar Manuel on 021-785-3683 or 060-983-5380.

Find images here or paste this link directly into your browser: http://bit.ly/2LQaeUW

Ethiopia’s former State Minister in the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Mr Wondimu Tekle Sigo, Ghana Grid Co, Lilongwe Water Board and several renewable energy generation projects were amongst the winners at the annual African Power, Energy & Water Industry Awards that returned to Cape Town last week, honouring the leading utilities, projects and people in the energy and water industries on the continent.

Their achievements during 2018/2019 were celebrated during the prestigious gala dinner on Wednesday 15 May, and formed part of the African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa conference and exhibition in Cape Town. The winners and finalists in the respective categories for the African Power, Energy & Water Industry Awards 2019 are: • Lifetime Achievement Award WINNER: Wondimu Tekle Sigo, Former State Minister, Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Ethiopia Mr Sigo said he was “grateful for being chosen”.

According to the former minister he was fortunate to have been involved in many interesting projects in his career, in both water and energy: “especially the 6000MW hydropower Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is under construction, on the Blue Nile. This project has already reached almost 60 percent, so this will help Ethiopia as well as the neighbouring countries through integration.

This was one of the big projects that I was leading when I was at the ministry. This award is not just for me, but also for all the colleagues who have worked on so many projects with me, from the time when I was a site manager until I became a minister, and the team work we achieved.” For seven years, Wondimu Tekle Sigo served as Ethiopia’s Minister of State for the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy.

He is well respected for the design and construction of various infrastructure projects, including the expansion of a rural electrification programme for more than 6000 towns and villages in the region. Furthermore, he tackled water shortages by increasing the water supply of the city around the Dire water reservoir dam from 240,000m³ to 400 000 m³ per day.

Amongst his many achievements, Sigo upgraded eight cities’ electric distribution systems including that of Addis Ababa. ESI Africa included Sigo in their 60 most influential figures in the power sector from East and West Africa. Now as a PhD candidate for Economics at the Peking University in China, Sigo has been conducting research since 2017 around achieving Ethiopia’s economic growth and development.

The other finalists were (in no particular order): - Abderrahim Jamrani, Technical Director, Masen - Wim Jonker Klunne, Programme Director, Energy and Environment Partnership, Southern and East Africa (EEP) - Dale Robertson, President, Enerscan Engineering • Outstanding Contribution Award: Power WINNER: Jasandra Nyker, Chief Executive Officer, BioTherm Energy, South Africa “I am very proud of this achievement” an elated Ms Nyker said on Wednesday evening, “it has been eight years since we started building biotherm energy into a renewable energy investment and development platform.

I dedicate this award to my team because it is very much a team effort. We’ve built an amazing business and we have expanded into the rest of Africa. For us this is just a great achievement.” Ms Nyker is the Chief Executive Officer of BioTherm Energy, who led the business to grow from 4 MW in PPAs to over 450 MWs of secured PPAs.

BioTherm has expanded its development activities to build a pan African business by winning projects in Zambia, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Iviore and Ghana, and has also won large scale projects with some of the leading global mining companies. She has previously managed the direct investment portfolio on behalf of the PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund as well as Booz Allen Hamilton in London.

Ms. Nyker holds an MBA from the London Business School, where she was a Merrill Lynch Scholar, and a Business Science degree in Finance from the University of Cape Town. She was nominated as a 2012 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and was part of the Inaugural Global Agenda Council on New Energy Architecture for the World Economic Forum. The other finalists were: - Ricardo Amansure, Community Operations Manager, Umoya - Jonathan Amoako-Baah, Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) - Joel Nana Kontchou, Chief Executive Officer, Eneo Cameroon SA • Outstanding Contribution Award: Water WINNER: Prof. Andras Szöllösi-Nagy, President of the Governing Board of the Sustainable, Development Studies Institute National University of Public Service, Hungary Unable to be in Cape Town this week, a pre-recorded acceptance speech on video by Prof Szöllösi-Nagy was played to the hundreds of high-level power and water professionals who had gathered at the gala dinner to honour him. “Africa needs capacity in water resources,” he said, “although rich in water, it will have major problems to make water use sustainable for generations to come, particularly in the light of climate change. Perhaps there is no other continent that will be so deeply impacted by climate variability and change because as the hydrological cycle is accelerating the probability of having extreme flaws, either floods or drought, will likely increase. And it is now that we have to work together with politicians and policy makers to find out what the appropriate measures are to deal with this danger.” Andras was instrumental in implementing the establishment of several UNESCO Water Centers across Africa. These centers play a pivotal role in advancing sustainable water management in Africa as well as contributing to capacity development and training activities. They also play a pivotal role in implementing IHP.

There are six African UNESCO water centers established to date, including the Regional Center for Training and Water Studies of Arid and Semi-Arid Zones (RCTWS) in Egypt. The Regional Centre for Shared Aquifer Resources Management (RCSARM) in Libya. The Regional Centre on Groundwater Resources Education, Training and Research in East Africa (RCGRE)in Kenya.

The Regional Centre for Integrated River Basin Management (RC-IRBM) located in Nigeria. The Regional Centre on Capacity Development and Research in Water Harvesting (RCWH) in Sudan and the African Regional Centre for Eco hydrology in Ethiopia. Prof. Szöllösi-Nagy was appointed by the Director General of UNESCO to serve as Rector of the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education. The Institute was an integral part of UNESCO Category 1 Institute. During his tenure he has reformed the Institute where approximately 40% of the graduate students were from Africa. In that period Africa was a priority of both the research and capacity development activities of the Institute.

The African alumni are in lead positions today all over Africa serving various water related organizations. The other finalists were: - Andre Kruger, Head Africa Investment and Integration Desk (AVID), Nepad Business Foundation - Alfonso Chikuni, Chief Executive Officer, Lilongwe Water Board Damas - Alfred Mashauri, Professor: Civil Engineering, University of Namibia: Engineering & IT • Outstanding Contribution Award: Young Leader WINNER: Astria Fataki, Energy Generation, Founder and President After receiving the award a very excited Astria said that: “about ten years ago I fell in love with the energy sector because I realised that energy was a very strong factor and tool for development. But as I was implementing projects I came across a lot of human resources challenges, so I started wondering how we can contribute to the electrification of the continent but with local resources, both technical and human resources. So that is how the idea came to first develop the human capital to provide solutions to the challenge of access to energy and also innovative technology that is tailored for Africa.”

Astria Fataki, who is originally from Togo, is an entrepreneur passionate about project development in Africa. Astria truly believes that energy is at the center of socio-economic development, and fully dedicates herself to tackle this challenge both at the micro and the macro level in Africa. At a macro level, she coordinated, from 2013 to 2015, the contractual and legal construction of two Public-Private Partnership projects for the construction and operation of photovoltaic solar power plants in Mali (40MW) and Chad (60MW).

At the micro level, in 2016, she founded the pan-African organisation Energy Generation, with the objective to develop young Africans’ entrepreneurial initiatives in the energy sector.

Astria holds a Master’s degree in International Public Management from Sciences Po Paris. The other finalists were: - Lois Gicheru, Solafrique, Founder and CEO - Boitumelo Sehlake, Sehlake Energy Solutions, Founder - Pule Segale, Rina Consulting Ltd, Civil Engineer (Site Manager) • Power Service Provider of the Year WINNER: Ghana Grid Company Ltd, Ghana Daniel Mathe is a Divisional Director at GRIDCo and accepted the award on behalf of the organisation: “the award means a lot and means that the good work we are doing has been seen and recognised in Africa and we are working very hard to support other countries within Africa. This year we have been able to supply power to Burkina Faso, our neighbours, so it means that the efforts that we are putting in, are being seen in the industry. We want to do even better. We also supply power to Togo and Benin and are doing a lot as far as the West Africa Power Pool is concerned.”

GRIDCo operates the Ghana Wholesale Electricity Market and provides electricity transmission services and in Ghana and West African. Since its inception GRIDCo has continuously ensured reliable supply of affordable electricity to households by continuously upgrading and extending the grid and the introduction of modern systems in compliance with IEC 61850. As a result, access to electricity in Ghana has increased from 66.7% (2009) to 82.5% (2016).The increase in electricity access has resulted in increased income, improve trade balance, provided local solutions, contributed to industrial development and creation of new job opportunities. In West Africa GRIDCo has established inter and intra connections with other West African countries to the North, East and West of its boundaries, as part of the West African Power Pool System and has positioned Ghana as a Net-Exporter within the Sub-region. For instance, GRIDCo currently supplies about a third of the Electricity required for Burkina through its Transmission System.

These power exports have brought socio-economic benefits and continues to enhanced energy supply security. Additionally, over the last four (4) years GRIDCo has commercialized its telecommunication assets and now provides the most reliable form of fiber communication for telecommunication services and IT support systems nationwide.

The other finalists were: - Umeme Limited - Abuja Electricity Distribution Company - Energy Utility Corporation Limited – EUCL • Water Service Provider of the Year WINNER: Lilongwe Water Board, Malawi The company’s Corporate Planning Manager, Gustav Sikasima, responded as follows after the announcement: “this award means a lot, it means we have been making strides towards the social impact of the people of Lilongwe City and the efforts we have been making to make sure that the City has potable water.” Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) is a statutory organization created in 1947 by the government of Malawi and mandated by the Water Works Act (Cap 72) to supply water to the residents of Lilongwe.

There are about 83,000 metered customers and more than 1000 water Kiosks (communal water selling points) within the City. The total pipe network for LWB is estimated at 1,900 Km.The Board abstracts raw water from Lilongwe River which originates from Dzalanyama Ranges. The Kamuzu Dam I and Kamuzu Dam II upstream of the intake works act as storage for the dry season during which the flow from Lilongwe River cannot sustain production. These two dams collectively were designed to provide a total storage volume of 24.3 million cubic meters. However, due to sedimentation and the continuous severe drought faced by the country for a decade, this capacity is reducing on an annual basis at a rate of approximately 66,760m3 per year for the past five years. The company has two main Treatment Plants, TW I and TW II which are situated within the Water Works Campus.

The combined capacity of the two plants is 125,000 cubic meters per day. The other finalists were: - Hessequa Municipality - Umgeni Water - Ontec Systems (Pty) Ltd • Grid-Tied Renewable Energy Project (10MW +) WINNER: Kathu Solar Thermal Power Plant, South Africa “What is very unique about this type of project is firstly the clean technology" Siyabonga Mbanjwa, Regional Managing Director Southern Africa for SENER, one of the construction partners in Kathu said on Wednesday evening, "and also that it offers production during peak periods: so we are using molten salts as a storage mechanism and that allows us to continue to produce electricity, even when the sun has set. But what is also very exciting about Kathu Solar Park is the manner in which we have worked with the community, we have kept very, very close ties with the community.”

Kathu Solar Park is a 100MW concentrated solar power (CSP) project located in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. Construction on the project commenced in May 2016. The solar power park achieved commercial operation in January 2019 and has an operational life of 30 years. Kathu solar project is part of South Africa’s Integrated Resource Program (IRP) 2010, which aims to increase the country’s power generation capacity to 86.8GW by 2030. It is a parabolic trough plant consisting of a number of solar collector assemblies, including parabolic reflectors (curved mirror), a tracking system, a support structure, and a receiver tube.

The storage system reduces the effects of irregular sunlight and enables the plant to produce electricity even during low levels of sunlight. It is also installed with 57 three-phase, cast resin-type transformers rated at 1,500kVA. It will also create 500 jobs during the construction phase and 81 permanent jobs during the operational phase.

The project is expected to drive the economic revival of the Northern Cape Province and was constructed as an EPC project by SENER and ACCIONA. The other finalists were: - Greenmillenia - Jinko Solar • Small-Scale Sustainable Energy Project (under 5MW) WINNER: Rubagabaga Hydropower Limited, Rwanda Dan Klinck, MD of East Africa Power/Rubagabaga Hydro Power Limited said after receiving the award: “We’re very pleased with the award, this is very prestigious, and we are thrilled that Rubagabaga came to fruition. It’s been a lot of hard work, we’ve had 1500 workers on this project, so this award is really for everybody who participated.” He added: “what’s unique about this project is that it is a public-private-community partnership. It is one thing to build a project that just hooks up the line and adds it to the utility.

For us we really focused in on what it would do to the community and its productive use equipment, its industrial park, its community library, its agricultural centre of excellence – it wasn’t just power to line up the grid, it was something that really could bring the community together and make a difference and we’re very happy about that.” Rubagabaga Hydropower Project is a 445 kW grid-connected, run-of-the-river project located in the Northern Province of Rwanda.

It has made a very large impact on the local and regional communities by bringing renewable energy, jobs, and improved livelihood to thousands of households. The project is the first hydropower project to implement a containerised turbine and generator in East Africa. Built almost entirely using simple man-power with little mechanical intervention, this project gives credit to the innovative and resourceful nature of the Rwandan people In addition to the 455 kW delivered to the national grid, this project has created more than 1000 jobs over the span of its life thus far.

The ongoing introduction of energy linked directly to innovative, locally-initiated industries creates a dynamic and diverse economy and a sustainably healthy community with the power to impact Rwanda on a national scale. It is the developer’s policy to establish such community-serving projects wherever a successful hydropower plant has been developed. The other finalists were: - BBOX - Ecomandate Foundation - African Sustainable Energies - Eaton Electric South Africa Industry support The sponsors of the African Power, Energy & Water Industry Awards 2019 were Eaton, Aberdare Cables, SBS Tanks, Mazars, Standard Bank, ESI Africa, Smart Energy International and Clarion Energy.

African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa is the flagship energy event organised by Spintelligent, a multi-award-winning Cape Town-based exhibition and conference producer across the continent in the energy, infrastructure, mining, real estate and agriculture sectors. Other well-known events by Spintelligent include Future Energy East Africa, Future Energy Nigeria, the Utility CEO Forums, Agritech Expo Zambia, Nigeria Mining Week and DRC Mining Week. Spintelligent is part of the UK-based Clarion Events Group and African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa form part of Clarion Energy, which runs over 40 events that cover the oil, gas, power and energy sectors, making it one of Clarion Events’ largest portfolios.

Website: http://www.african-utility-week.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfricaUtilities #AUW2019 #PGAF2019 Linkedin: African Utility Week

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.

CNN’s Business Africa Correspondent, Eleni Giokos, will be the moderator of the opening session of the African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa conference and exhibition that is taking place in Cape Town from 14-16 May.

The keynote addresses will be delivered during the opening session on Tuesday 14 May by:

09:40-10:00: Host Utility Welcome address Phakamani Hadebe, Chief Executive, Eskom, South Africa
10:00-10:30: Swedish Ministerial Address Niklas Johansson, State Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden
10:30-11:00: Host ministerial and VIP opening addresses Hon Jeff Radebe, Minister of Energy, Department of Energy, South Africa

Debate on climate change After the break at 12:15, Ms Giokos will lead the panel discussion on: “Advancing global efforts to address and manage the impacts and risks of climate change.”

Panellists:

• Anton Eberhard, Professor: Management Programme in Infrastructure, Reform and Regulation, Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• Saliem Fakir, Head of Policy and Futures Unit, World Wide Fund, South Africa
• Mark Swilling, Programme Coordinator, Sustainable Development Programme in the School of Public Leadership, South Africa
• Kai Kaatra, DDG for Natural Resources in Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Finland

Earlier this year, the African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa entered into a media partnership with the global news organisation and broadcaster CNN. The 19th edition of this leading conference and exhibition is expected to attract more than 10 000 energy and water professionals this year.

International pavilions
Apart from the official U.S. country pavilion at African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa showcasing specialised technology and services for the utility, metering, renewable and water industries, country pavilions from Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India and Poland have also already confirmed their presence at the 3-day event in May.

Industry support

A multi-award-winning conference and exhibition, African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa has secured the support from industry stalwarts including Conlog, Dromex, GE, Landis+Gyr, SAP, Sumitomo and Utility Systems as platinum sponsors and Aberdare, ADC Energy, Rosatom, Sulzer and Toshiba as gold sponsors.

African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa is the flagship energy event organised by Spintelligent, a multi-award-winning Cape Town-based exhibition and conference producer across the continent in the energy, infrastructure, mining and agriculture sectors. Other well-known events by Spintelligent include Future Energy East Africa, Future Energy Nigeria, the Utility CEO Forums, Agritech Expo Zambia, Nigeria Mining Week and DRC Mining Week. Spintelligent is part of the UK-based Clarion Events Group and African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa form part of Clarion Energy, which runs over 40 events that cover the oil, gas, power and energy sectors, making it one of Clarion Events’ largest portfolios.

Dates for African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa:

Conference and expo: 14-16 May 2019
Site visits: 17 May 2019
Location: CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa

Website: http://www.african-utility-week.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfricaUtilities    #AUW2019
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.

African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa to gather 10 000+ in Cape Town in May“

Honestly, I think the business model for energy investment needs to change” says Penny Herbst, Director Strategy for Africa GreenCo. “There are far too many players that are comfortable with the same structures for investment, selling to an SOE (state-owned enterprise) with a government guarantee. What we really need at present is for investors to have a stake where their influence contributes to improving the Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) as a whole.  Both current investors familiar with the South African environment and those that wish to enter the market for the first time are awaiting the release of the revised IRP for their next move.”    

She explains that Africa GreenCo has an innovative business model “where it will function as an intermediary buyer and seller of power from IPPs and in this role will aggregate financial and supply risks in a portfolio approach by, amongst others, using local and regional markets to transparently diversify its risks.” 

Municipalities part of ESI
With regards to the role of municipalities, Ms Herbst, who is a former Eskom employee and 30-year veteran of the energy industry, says: “the municipalities are as much a part of the ESI as Eskom and as a matter of fact, in most large metros they add a margin in excess of 100% to Eskom’s tariff e.g. Eskom charges the municipalities approximately ZAR 1 / Wh and they in turn charge ZAR 2+ / kWh to their customers.  This is exorbitant and to make matters worse the charges associated with pre-paid exceed those of post-paid. Surely pre-paid customers are a better credit quality than those that are being billed in arrears.  The question to be raised here is who is benefitting from pre-paid meters, if it is the private sector, is their remuneration commensurate with their risk?” 

She adds: “what is clear though is that there is a myriad of players lying in wait to capitalise on the gap that has been created by the unfolding Eskom financial and reliability challenge. Can we as a country honestly say that the planning and pricing impact for this has been fully comprehended?“

Ms Herbst will moderate a conference session on “Financing renewable energy projects” at the upcoming African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa in Cape Town from 14-16 May. Click here to read her full interview: An electricity sector in turmoil - Unpacking what transpired.

Educating investors on risk
“We are seeing greater interest from international investors than we have in the past” says Romain Py, Investment Director – Head of Transactions, African Infrastructure Investment Managers Pty Ltd (AIIM). “It is, however, important to note that the African private equity industry is still at an early stage of development relative to the traditional markets. As a result, the key focus for the industry needs to be on educating investors, notably on how to manage risks, and the large gap between perceived risks and actual residual risks for deals.”

AIIM is a shareholder in the Albatros Energy Mali project which won Project of the Year at the African Utility Week Industry Awards last year. Albatros Energy Mali, an HFO thermal power station, is Mali’s first independent power producer (IPP) project. Py adds: “There is also a need to educate governments on the requirements for increased private sector participation and consistency of policies and regulation. Reforms have been enacted in some countries in order to encourage Africa-based institutional investors to allocate capital to the asset class. However, more remains to be done to fully harness private equity’s potential to contribute to Africa’s socio-economic development.” For Romain Py’s full interview click here.

This year’s African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa dedicates a full three-day conference track to investment and finance in the energy sector. AIIM’s Romain Py is part of a panel discussion on: “What impact will the financial and investment landscape for 2019 have on Africa’s power infrastructure?”

Mini grids, deregulation
“Deregulation would open a market for people to produce power and sell power and that would revolutionise the energy landscape in South Africa. Technically it wouldn’t be a difficult or complex thing to do; there are plenty of precedents around the world where it has worked really well” – this is according to says Dr Sam Duby, Africa Director for TFE Energy and mini grid expert.

He continues: “creating a market for independently produced energy would also very quickly incentivise and unlock investment into the space. As more projects were built and generation capacity added, you would also very quickly get more system resilience. Blackouts really could be a thing of the past.“

At African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa in May, Dr Duby will address the Energy Revolution Africa conference session on the latest developments and long-awaited cooperation in the African micro grid industry. See more from Dr Duby here.

The 19th edition of this leading conference and exhibition is expected to attract more than 10 000 energy and water professionals this year.

African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa is the flagship energy event organised by Spintelligent, a multi-award-winning Cape Town-based exhibition and conference producer across the continent in the energy, infrastructure, mining and agriculture sectors. ESI Africa is the longstanding host publication of the event. Other well-known events by Spintelligent include Future Energy East Africa, Future Energy Nigeria, the Utility CEO Forums, Agritech Expo Zambia, Nigeria Mining Week and DRC Mining Week. Spintelligent is part of the UK-based Clarion Events Group and African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa form part of Clarion Energy, which runs over 40 events that cover the oil, gas, power and energy sectors, making it one of Clarion Events’ largest portfolios.

Dates for African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa:
Conference and expo: 14-16 May 2019
Site visits: 17 May 2019
Location: CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa

Website: http://www.african-utility-week.com  
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfricaUtilities    #AUW2019   
Linkedin: African Utility Week

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.

Details regarding the speaker line-up and agenda for BigFive Summit have been announced. Cape Town will play host to the Summit from 13 – 15 May 2019 where pioneers in the provision of digital media and marketing technology solutions to the region’s SMEs will converge for three exciting days of knowledge-sharing, networking and debate. The overarching purpose is to explore how media, mobile and technology vendors, and their agencies, can work together to drive and promote technology adoption for literally millions of local businesses across Africa and the Middle East.

With an estimated 40 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa and the Middle East (AME), it should come as no surprise that our continent is supporting a vibrant and fast-growing ecosystem of media, telecoms, financial and software companies eager to bring these businesses into the digital age. 

Enter BigFive Summit, a first-of-its-kind for Africa, designed by and for companies engaged in the supply, sale and servicing of digital marketing and productivity solutions to SMEs across the Africa/Middle East region.

Hosted by BigFive Digital, one of the foremost thought-leadership enterprises connecting AME media and tech companies to SMEs, the event will assemble an exciting mix of media, tech and digital stakeholders, influential thought-leaders, and disruptive start-ups to address the five key elements fueling the rise and growth of the AME digital ecosystem – Search, Social, Mobile, Location, and Payments.

The event features a number of exciting and influential speakers, each of which is an experts or pioneer in their respective fields:

Katlego Maphai is the Co-Founder and CEO of revolutionary South African innovation Yoco. Maphai has overcome many hurdles to build a payments solution that today powers tens of thousands of small businesses in SA by providing an easily accessible and easy-to-use platform to help start, run and grow your business.

Louw Barnardt is the Co-Founder and MD of Outsourced CFO. In 2017, he was nominated as one of FastCompany’s Most Innovative Companies of the Year, and in 2018 received the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Outsourced CFO is disrupting traditional financing and accounting practices for SMEs providing cloud-based services, combining integrity and professional excellence.

Gustav Praekelt is the Founder and CEO of South African Praekelt Group. He is a passionate believer that mobile technology will transform Africa. While spearheading groundbreaking work in the digital arena, Gustav established the Praekelt Foundation, to develop scalable mobile solutions for social good, whose programmes have reached over 100 million people across 30 countries.

Brendan King is Co-Founder and CEO of Vendasta Technologies, a Saskatoon Canada-based multi-award-winning platform for the sales and fulfilment of digital solutions. Vendasta partners with almost every major digital brand, including Google and Facebook, and is the platform of choice for many of the leading marketing agencies in North America.

Nick Grubb is Chief Executive: Radio at Kagiso Media, one of South Africa’s largest media owners. Nick oversees radio operations at Kagiso, including two of the country’s largest independent stations, Jacaranda FM and East Coast Radio. A Bachelor in Journalism and Media Studies from Rhodes University, Nick’s entire career has been in media, and he is expertly placed to talk about the changing dynamics of media consumption across AME.O

ther confirmed speakers include:

Chantelle Bowyer, CEO, Metis Online (South Africa)

Cheryl Ingram, Digital Marketing Director, The Digital Media Collective (South Africa)

Adi Engel, CBDO, vCita (Israel)

Trevor Harries-Jones, CEO, Yola (South Africa & USA)

George Leith, CRO, Vendasta (Canada)

Sandy Lohr, CEO, Matchcraft (USA)

Lyndon Munetsi, CRO, Trudon (South Africa)

Trevor Nadeau, CEO, Local Knowledge (Dubai)

Sohail Nawaz MBE, Former CEO ACS Media (Bahrain)

Magnus Rademeyer, Managing Director, AfriGIS (South Africa)

Ezana Raswork, Founder and MD, Africa 118 (Kenya)

Lunga Siyo, CEO, Trudon (South Africa)

Daryl Van Arkel, CEO, BPS & Vicinity Media (South Africa)

The speaker list also features:

Thabo Seopa and Paul Plant, two of the Co-Founders of BigFive Digital, hosts of BigFive Summit.

BigFive Summit promises to be an informative event packed to the brim with topics highly relevant to any company selling or servicing technology solutions to the region’s SMEs, including:

Why Africa is Poised for a Small Business Revolution

How Industry Leaders View the AME Digital Opportunity (results of Exec Survey)

The Changing Face of Media & Solution Selling

The Local Customer Journey 2019

The Payments Revolution and the Transforming of Africa’s Small Business Ecosystem

Transforming Business Results with Location Insights

Time for Local Radio to Tune-In to the Digital Opportunity

Running a Digital Agency in an Automated Age

The Impact of Data/AI and Machine Learning on Local Commerce

Messaging Apps and Conversational Commerce

Unlocking the Location Data Opportunity

Can SEO Work for Very Small Businesses?

The Importance of Reputation Management

BigFive Start-up Showcase – A Peek at the Next Wave of Disruptors

The Unfiltered Truth – SMEs Talking Digital Transformation

The Service Imperative – Preventing Customer Churn

The Do’s and Don’ts of Search & Social Marketing

The Path to Ecommerce for Small Businesses

Details of the Event: BigFive Summit 2019

The Summit will take place from 13 - 15 May 2019 at Workshop 17 in the prestigious V&A Waterfront in Cape Town and will feature some of the finest digital practitioners sharing strategic insights, best practices, and practical guidance for success, through a series of engaging presentations, tactical sessions and networking forums. 

With two cocktail receptions, plus a networking dinner all included in the package, delegates will have an opportunity to engage with like-minded companies, eager to promote and sustain the local commerce landscape.

To register as a delegate, join our list of speakers or learn about sponsorship opportunities, visit: www.bigfivedigital.org/summit 

Executive Survey – Respondents will receive a Discount Code to attend BigFive Summit

BigFive Summit is currently running an Executive Survey to gauge how leaders inside companies who serve or sell to SMEs view the digital opportunity. The full findings of the survey will be presented at BigFive Summit. Anyone working in this space is encouraged to participate in the survey. The more responses we receive, the better.

All contributors to the survey will receive a discount code on tickets to the event.

Take the survey here: http://bit.ly/ExecutiveSurvey

ENDS 

For more information about BigFive Summit or this press release, please contact:

Mika Stanvliet | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | 081 534 6237  

About BigFive Digital:

BigFive Digital was created to support digital media and technology solutions providers serving local SMEs throughout Africa & The Middle East. The Africa/Middle East region is enjoying a period of sustained economic growth. Every major indicator is predicted to perform above global averages for the next decade, with the region boasting six of the world’s ten fastest growing national economies*. Local digital commerce is widely recognized as a lead indicator of a healthy and growing modern economy.*Sources: The Economist; The UN; The World Bank; McKinsey & Co.BigFive Digital has been co-founded by four highly respected global media and digital commerce executives: Thabo Seopa, Paul Plant, Charles Laughlin, and Oscar Sousa Marques. Collectively, they have spent more than a century experiencing digital transformation, witnessing first-hand the impacts of disruptive innovations in local marketing and commerce in various countries all over the world.  

For more information about BigFive Digital, visit: https://bigfivedigital.org/ 

About BigFive Summit:

Hosted by BigFive Digital, BigFive Summit is a knowledge-sharing and networking event for companies that provide digital marketing and technology solutions to local businesses across Africa & The Middle East. The Summit is built around the five pillars that support local commerce, namely: Search, Social, Mobile, Location and Payments. It is these five sectors that are fueling the rapid rise and growth of digital and technology adoption across the region. Any company with a vested interest in this exciting ecosystem is invited to join us in Cape Town, from 13-15 May 2019.

For more information about the Summit, please visit: https://bigfivedigital.org/summit/