A stellar line-up will kick off the 18th edition of African Utility Week in Cape Town on Tuesday, 15 May, with an inspiring opening session, including the South African Minister of Energy, Jeff Radebe, alongside the Indian Minister of Commerce, Shri C R Chaudhary, and Eskom's Interim Group CEO Phakamani Hadebe. The Mother City will welcome back more than 7000 energy and water professionals from around the globe next week to discuss the challenges, opportunities and success stories in these industries on the continent.
"The theme of the opening session is ‘Building a skilled and dynamic workforce’, says African Utility Week event director Evan Schiff. He explains: "Africa is facing a critical shortage of hands-on tech and engineering skills, with a particular need for technicians to build and maintain power and water projects all over the subcontinent. The continent has also been haemorrhaging and exporting African talent to the rest of the world. This session looks at the future of work and how organisations are reacting to the changes and shortages; after all, your organisation is only as good as your best employees."
African Utility Week opening session on Tuesday 15 May line-up:
09:30– 09:35 Organiser’s Welcome Address
David Ashdown, Managing Director, Spintelligent, South Africa
09:35-09:40 European Union Welcome Address
Amb Dr Marcus Cornaro, EU Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa
“Given that SMEs contribute disproportionately to boosting job creation, GDP, and exports, African Utility Week should address such constraints by bringing all stakeholders together. The EU is certainly one of them”.
– Amb Dr Marcus Cornaro: Read more here
09:40-09:45 Indian Chamber of Commerce Welcome Address and Introduction to the Honourable Minister
Rajeev Singh, Director General, Indian Chamber of Commerce, India
“Indian energy companies are ready to do business at African Utility Week”
–Rajeev Singh: Read more here
09:45-09:55 Ministry for Commerce and Industry, India, Welcome Address
Honourable Minister Shri C R Chaudhary, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, India
09:55-10:05 Host Utility Welcome Address
Phakamani Hadebe, Interim Group Chief Executive Officer Eskom, South Africa
10:05-10:20 Host Ministry Address
Honourable Minister Jeff Radebe, Minister of Energy, Department of Energy, South Africa
10:20-10:50 Future of work and the disruptive forces that are shaping it
Graeme Codrington, Author, Futurist and Strategy Consultant, TomorrowToday, South Africa
“The rules for success and failure are being rewritten, and there’s no ‘business as usual’ anymore. This is true in every industry and every market. In this environment, the task of the leader must change.”
– Graeme Codrington: Read more here
10:50– 11:30 Capacity building for Africa: Thought leader interviews
Moderator: Richard Poplak, Senior Reporter, Daily Maverick, South Africa
Panellists:
- Graeme Codrington, Author, Futurist and Strategy Consultant, TomorrowToday, South Africa
- Lawrence Jones, Vice President – International Programs, Edison Electric Institute and Project Director, Africa Utility Power Sector Exchange, USA
- Nelisewe Magubane, Chairperson, Matleng Energy Solutions, South Africa
- Philip Dingle, Marketing Director, Lucy Electric, UK: Read more here
Industry support
A multi-award winning conference and exhibition, African Utility Week has once again secured important industry support including from Lucy Electric as diamond sponsors, Eskom Rotek Industries, Hexing, Landis+Gyr and Sensus as platinum sponsors and Aberdare, Empire Utility Solutions and SAP as gold sponsors. The event also features several country pavilions, including from India, the EU, China, Germany, Denmark, Italy and Canada, indicating the strong global business interest in the energy and water sectors as important infrastructure growth points on the continent.
Along with multiple side events and numerous networking functions the event also boasts a six track conference with over 300 expert speakers, focusing on industry disciplines such as: generation, water, renewables, nuclear, transmission and distribution as well as project finance and investment.
The African Utility Week expo offers an extensive technical workshop programme that is CPD accredited, free to attend, and offers 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. Delegates will also go on technical site visits including to the solar farm on Robben Island and a well-known Cape Town bottling plant that has taken successful steps to cope with the current water challenges of the city.
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. More events include Agritech Expo Zambia, Property Buyer Show, DRC Mining Week, Eduweek, Farm-Tech Expo Kenya, Nigeria Mining Week and the Mining Baraza in Kenya.
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
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfricaUtilities #AUW2018
Linkedin: African Utility Week
Contact:
Senior communications manager: Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone: +27 21 700 3558
Mobile: +27 82 562 7844
Email: annemarie.roodbol@spintelligent.com
