The 15^th African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa conference and exhibition, returns to the CTICC in Cape Town from 12-14 May. The event has been extended by an extra day to offer three days of conference sessions, networking and an extra plenary session.

The event, which will focus on regional collaboration in the power and water sectors, the untapped potential of renewable energy and investment challenges, is expected to again attract more than 5000 attendees.

 Africa is open for business

The new event director for African Utility Week Evan Schiff says: “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.”

Addressing industry challenges

With regards to challenges in the industry, Schiff says there is a growing need for regional collaboration: establishing a regulatory framework for the entire region and cross-border power supplies and exchanges.

Another major challenge is access to finance for investment in energy projects and infrastructure development.

To address the calls for more information on this key sector, African Utility Week 2015 will present a new Finance and Investment conference track that will create a unique forum for utilities, governments and project developers to meet with international, regional, local and alternative financiers to explore new opportunities arising from the utility industry, address relevant challenges, and answer some of the thorny funding questions.

It will have the objective of encouraging funding and revenue inflows into the utility sector by engaging leading decision makers on the global finance and investment arena.

Attending the African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa exhibition is free when registering in advance. Log on to www.african-utility-week.com for free registration.

Dates for African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa 2015:

Conference and expo: 12-14 May 2015
Awards gala dinner:  13 May 2015
Site visits: 15 May 2015
Location: CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa

Websites: www.african-utility-week.com and www.clean-power-africa.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfricaUtilities
Linkedin: African Power Forum