The organisers of African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa, have announced that they have entered into a media partnership with the weekly news publication and online portal, The Mail & Guardian, in the run-up to the event that is taking place from 14-16 May in Cape Town.

The South African Minister of Energy, Honourable Jeff Radebe, is heading up a stellar line up of expert speakers and will once again deliver the opening ministerial address on 14 May. The 19th edition of this leading conference and exhibition is expected to attract more than 10 000 energy and water professionals this year.

“The Mail & Guardian brand and tradition is one of quality, no question” says African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa event director Evan Schiff, “it’s a proudly and quintessentially South African weekly institution of quality, informed and unbiased political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, local arts, music and popular culture. Its pioneering role to migrate its news and content offering to the online space has also been unparalleled. African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa is proud to be part of the M&G’s special Energy Supplements to reach our target audience in the run-up to the event in May.”

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, Poland and Russia have also already confirmed their presence at the 3-day event in May.

Industry and institutional support
A multi-award-winning conference and exhibition, African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa has already secured early support from industry stalwarts including Conlog, Dromex, GE, Landis+Gyr, SAP, Sumitomo and Utility Systems as platinum sponsors and Aberdare, ADC Energy, Sulzer and Toshiba as gold sponsors. The South African Ministry of Energy is the host ministry of the event, Eskom the host utility while Cape Town is the host city.

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 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. 

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.

Dates for African Utility Week and Energy Revolution Africa:
Conference and expo: 16-18 May 2017
Awards gala dinner:  17 May 2016
Site visits: 19 May 2016 Location: CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa

Websites: http://www.african-utility-week.com   
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfricaUtilities  
Linkedin: African Power Forum

KPMG contact:
Communication specialist: Baradi Moletsane
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Mobile: +27 60 997 5946

AUW 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.