By The African utility week is to be hosted in South Africa’s city of Cape Town, the organizers have confirmed.
They said in a statement that regional collaboration in the power and water sectors, the untapped potential of renewable energy and investment challenges will be top of the agenda at the 15th African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa conference and exhibition, returning to the Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC) in Cape Town from 12-14 May next year.
According to the communication manager of the event, Annemarie Roodbal ,the event is expected to attract more than 5,000 attendees and feature 250 exhibitors, 190 speakers, eight conferences, free technical workshops on the expo floor, three high-profile plenary sessions and the coveted industry awards gala dinner.
“The event brings together utility professionals from across the globe to learn, share knowledge and debate the key topics that will secure the future development of Africa’s power and water industries,” she said in a statement.
The new event director for Africa Utilty Week, Evan Schiff said “Based on consultations with the industry, we have extended the conference and exhibition by an extra day, so we now offer three days of conference sessions, networking and an extra plenary session. The theme of our opening plenary session is: ‘Africa is open for business’. We have a few surprises up our sleeves in terms of keynote speakers and at this stage we can confirm that the Rockefeller Foundation’s Managing Director for Africa, Mr. Mamadou Biteye, is part of our high-level line-up.”
He added on, “Our most important aim is to remain relevant by providing the best industry insight and knowledge to attendees. To ensure we are plugged in to the most up-to-date information, we work very closely with leading and pioneering individuals and companies in the sector. Our high-level advisory board is a veritable who’s who of the power and water industries and our conference and technical workshop programs reflect this with topical, up-to-date discussions and presentations.”
With regards to challenges in the industry, the African Utility Week director said,“There is a growing need for regional collaboration: establishing a regulatory framework for the entire region and cross-border power supplies and exchanges. Furthermore, there is vast untapped potential in solar PV, wind, and geothermal that can be used as power generation sources.”