EnergyNet has received the ‘Organiser of the Year’ award from Association of Event Organisers (AEO) for the Africa Energy Forum (AEF) 2018 in Mauritius
The award recognised the commitment from the team in taking AEF to Mauritius in celebration of the event’s 20th anniversary.
“The operational complexity of delivering such a high-quality event to this scale with limited local event services and facilities on the island was a challenge. We had to be exceptionally resourceful whilst still keeping in mind our ethos of supporting local communities and being sustainable. It was a tough but extremely rewarding accomplishment that the team are very proud of,” said Charlotte Wood-Dow, senior operations manager, EnergyNet.
Last week 2,010 attendees, 10 ministers, nine secretaries of State and 312 speakers gathered in Lisbon for the 21st edition of AEF. The forum gathered decision-makers from across the energy value chain to discuss opportunities for the investment and development of African power projects.
Panel discussions, workshops and seminars focused on investment in power projects in different African regions, financing solutions, technology innovations in the energy sector and the progress of different fuel types in Africa.
The forum was hosted in Portugal to capitalise on the wealth of experience regarding renewable energy and climate change initiatives. Portugal’s secretary of state for energy João Galamba welcomed investors to the forum.
As a business with 75 per cent female leadership, all sessions in Lisbon were moderated by 52 leading women in the energy sector.
Several deals and project announcements took place, including the revealing of the ‘Transparency Tool’ by ATI & KfW – an energy solution to quicken the pace of electrification in Africa. CDC Group launched new transmission & distribution company Gridworks, and DBSA committed US$4.9mn of development funding to Joule Africa’s hydropower project in Sierra Leone.
AfDB launched “Revisiting Reforms in the Power Sector in Africa” report and Wärtsilä launched a modular Block solution for providing ready-to-go power plants. Facility for Investments in Small Renewable Transactions (FIRST) announced a financing update for a US$17.29mn facility for Building Energy’s Kruisvallei hydroelectric project.
