Joint agenda for energy events

Private sector participation in the energy sector, small-scale hydro and minigrid opportunities, desalination as an option to secure water security and helping sustainable small and medium-sized enterprises with a toolkit are just some of the highlights of the digital African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa agenda.

The programme forms part of the upcoming Digital Energy Festival for Africa which unites African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa, Africa Energy Forum and the Oil & Gas Council’s Africa Assembly under one banner – offering an unprecedented five-week tour de force of quality content and engagement on Africa’s largest, all-encompassing digital energy platform.

The Digital Energy Festival began on October 20 and is scheduled to end on November 26, 2020. The digital platform will allow attendees to access content and networking offerings across all three market-leading events with one point of entry, making it the largest ever energy event for Africa. The event has been marketed to a combined energy database of over 200 000 participants.

Post-pandemic Impact
Amid the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the African energy sector, the organisers of the Digital Energy Festival seek to address critical issues such as pivoting to digital, new financial models and innovative power generation sources to allow attendees to make decisions and formulate recovery plans.

“It is inspiring to be part of such a unique joint venture with two other leading players in the energy events sector,” says Cape Town-based exhibition and conference producer Clarion Events Africa power and energy group director Chanelle Hingston.

“Each one of us as event organisers has a strong team with a different and distinctive focus on the multifaceted energy sector. For example, we are well known for always gathering world-class experts for our water-focused discussions as part of our event.”

She adds that, since the start of the pandemic, the live event has been postponed twice. However, with the partners and customers, the organisers have fully embraced the digital tools available to keep the conversation going.

“As we proclaimed recently, ‘the show will go on’, and being part of the Digital Energy Festival is a continuation of celebrating and supporting our continent’s power and energy professionals, projects and pioneers. We look forward to engaging with our long-standing partners online again and also welcoming new faces to our platform.”

The programme hosts a variety of events, topics and highlights from keynote addresses by private sector participants in the African power sector, to fireside discussions with South African Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe.

The programme will also include a fireside discussion with State-owned power utility Eskom group CE André de Ruyter.

Additional discussion will include small scale hydro opportunities in East Africa, building resilient incomes to ensure sustainable business models and a utility guide for pivoting to digital to name a few.