A delegation of power sector stakeholders from across sub-Saharan Africa travelled to Cape Town, South Africa, from 14- 17 July 2015, to participate in an international forum on African power.

The delegation, comprising 20 high-ranking public and private sector power industry stakeholders, travelled to South Africa to attend POWER-GEN Africa and DistribuTECH Africa, where pan-African and international speakers and exhibitors gathered for three days to assess the challenges, solutions and technologies to address power shortfalls across the continent.

The three-day African power generation and distribution conferences and expofocused on infrastructure and regulatory issues, as well as attracting the necessary foreign investment to meet the growing energy needs of the continent.

Nigel Blackaby POWER-GEN Africa Event Director and Conference Director for event organiser PennWell’s International Power Group, said: “Meeting the continent’s power demands is now more important than ever before. With an investment of around $450 billion needed in Africa’s power infrastructure to reduce power outages and reach the 600 million sub-Saharan Africans who do not have access to electricity, collaboration and integration are going to be crucial.”

Leonard Kassana, senior consultant at Ngali Energy in Rwanda, said IPPs were often the best and fastest route to added capacity on the grid, but that governments play a critical role in identifying projects and bringing them to bankable levels.

Gilman Kasiga, co-founder and CEO of EA Power, based in Tanzania, said the region was rich in hydro, geothermal and natural gas potential, and that private sector investment would be key to exploiting these resources. However, the right commercial models and tariff structures needed to be in place to drive this private investment. “This is the first time I have attended POWER-GEN Africa. It has been a useful opportunity for me to make new connections and get a better understanding of the regional issues,” he said.

POWER-GEN Africa and DistribuTECH Africa 2015 were staged by global events organiser PennWell Corporation, under the theme ‘Emerging Opportunities in the World’s Fastest Growing Continent’. The next POWER-GEN Africa and DistribuTECH Africa conferences and expo will be hosted in Johannesburg, South Africa, in July 2016.