Over 600 energy leaders gathering at 2016 Africa Energy Indaba next week

The 2016 Africa Energy Indaba (AEI), which starts on Monday, 16 February 2016, is the foremost African energy event for energy professionals from across the globe. The event gathers international and African experts to share their insights and solutions to Africa’s energy crisis, while exploring the vast energy development and investment opportunities in Africa.

The 2015 World Energy Council Year for Africa culminated at the World Energy Council Executive Assembly and the World Energy Leaders’ Summit in Addis Ababa. Now, the discussion moves to the 2016 Africa Energy Indaba, the World Energy Council’s annual regional event, where over 600 energy leaders are gathering in Johannesburg to address key challenges to shape the future of energy in the continent.

The World Energy Council will be hosting its Indaba Energy Leaders’ Dialogue with high-level leaders including Ministers and CEOs from over 20 countries to look into the institutional changes that are needed to balance the World Energy Trilemma goals of energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability in Africa. Other discussions will highlight the scaling up of renewables through innovative business models and the role of mobile banking solutions, as well as unlocking investment to develop an energy infrastructure road map for Africa.

After the climate deal that was agreed at the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris, the world is entering a decarbonisation transition that will have a significant impact on the development of energy systems globally with implications for Africa. The global recession and particularly the low commodity price environment have not only severely impacted government budgets, but have also led to a decline in investment flows and delays in the development of new oil and gas infrastructure projects.

To meet Africa’s growing demand driven by population growth and urbanisation, the development of the continents’ enormous potential in oil and gas remains crucial. The World Energy Council Scenarios show that Natural Gas and LNG could play a major role in the African energy mix. How to access this opportunity remains a key question. All these issues will be at the core of the discussion during the Africa Energy Indaba week.

The World Energy Council will be launching its World Energy Resources – Shale Gas report on 15 February during the Africa Gas Forum, and discuss issues such as Gas-to-Power or how to connect national and regional gas markets.

The Council will also be hosting its Africa Regional Meeting with workshops focusing on World Energy Resources and World Energy Scenarios on 18 February in order to capture the reality of the energy world from an African perspective.

Discussions held over the Africa Energy Indaba week will also pave the way to the Africa Day of the World Energy Congress 2016 in Istanbul, supporting global energy leaders, in these critical times of energy transition, by translating global objectives into regional and national solutions in order to secure a more sustainable energy future for Africa.