“Gautrain Management Agency confirmed as a platinum sponsor for the event”

“There is huge potential in the Western Cape’s green economy” says Western Cape Premier Alan Winde. The premier’s remarks come in the run-up to next week’s Africa’s Green Economy Summit from Wednesday, 22 February, where he will deliver the welcome address in the opening session. “The economy is bristling with opportunity even in the face of the enormity of the energy crisis”, according to Mr Winde. “While relentless loadshedding is causing considerable harm to our economy, the Western Cape Government is taking decisive action to counter the impact.”

He adds: “Our province’s burgeoning renewable energy sector is being enabled by the Western Cape Government to find and jump on the opportunities to harness innovation in the green economy. We stand ready to confront this crisis head-on and to continue creating hope and optimism in our province.”

Meanwhile, Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) confirmed its platinum sponsorship for the event this week. GMA CEO William Dachs said “the Gautrain was established with the aim of improving public transport in the Gauteng province, and alleviating the negative impact that traffic congestion has on air quality due to vehicle emissions. The GMA is currently investigating more ways of utilising green energy for Gautrain 2026 and beyond, and this remains a conversation that we will continue into a Gautrain market engagement conference on 27 March 2023.”

Jam-packed programme
With some 80 expert speakers in the jam-packed programme, Africa’s Green Economy Summit will bring together financiers, project developers, and government representatives, highlighting investment prospects that exist across the continent in the fields of green hydrogen, EVs, energy storage, solar, hydro and wind energy, infrastructure development, urban sustainability as well as manufacturing. The summit is part of the E-Fest Cape Town that will culminate in the Formula E 2023 Cape Town E-Prix race in the same week on Saturday, 25 February 2023.

Cape Town ready to talk business on the green economy
Already home to a thriving green economy, Cape Town’s Executive Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says the city is looking forward to welcoming the summit delegates and is ready to assist in creating opportunities to invest in this innovative space: “We our positioning Cape Town as a leading city for energy security, not only in our country but in Africa. We are the first metro to pay cash for power directly from residents and businesses with approved solar PV installations. We are also buying power on the open market via a major 3-phase procurement. This includes renewables, dispatchable on-demand energy, battery storage, and an incentives programme for voluntary energy savings through remote switching-off of appliances.”

The mayor adds: “We look forward to welcoming Africa and the world to this important summit—rest assured the City of Cape Town is ready to talk business on the green economy.”

PROGRAMME AND SPEAKER HIGHLIGHTS:  

Day 1: Wednesday, 22 February 2023, 09h00
MC: Fifi Peters, Award-Winning Financial Journalist, South Africa

Opening session: Driving the green economy investment strategy: Bridging the $277 billion gap of annual funding needed to enable African countries to implement their NDCs

• Organisers’ welcome and introduction to Go Green Africa
  Iain Banner, Founder, Go Green Africa, South Africa
• Host city welcome address
  Geordin Hill-Lewis, Executive Mayor, City of Cape Town, South Africa
• Host province introduction
  MEC Anroux Marais, Western Cape Provincial Minister for Cultural Affairs and Sport, South Africa
• Host province welcome address
  Alan Winde, Premier, Western Cape Province, South Africa
• Keynote session sponsor welcome address
  William Dachs, CEO, Gautrain Management Agency, South Africa
• De-risking investments, so lenders and investors can support Africa's net zero transition, the African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB)
  H.E. Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, African Union Commission, Ethiopia 
• Deploying green financing across the continent
  Kennedy Mbekeani, Deputy Director General Southern African Region, African Development Bank (AfDB), South Africa
• Attracting sustainable investment to bridge the finance gap for a green and just transition
  H.E. Sandra Kramer, Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of South Africa

More sessions highlights on Day 1:

• Accelerating green investment in Africa: Creating a pathway for increased flows of green investment capital to the continent
  Moderator: John Roome, South Asia Regional Director of Sustainable Development, The World Bank, United States
• Where are the green economy opportunities in Africa?
  Chairman: Herman Kwoba, Transport and Climate Change Project Officer, GIZ, Kenya
• Mobility for social inclusion & economic opportunity. Transforming urban mobility: Ground-breaking projects that are leading the charge
  Moderator: Michelle Defreese, Senior Officer, The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Rwanda
• Energy access and export. Increasing clean energy capital flows to African markets: Creating a pipeline for investors
  Moderator: Frank Spencer, Head of Deployment, Bushveld Energy, South Africa

 “Namibia next green hydrogen hub”
Namibia is well-represented at the summit and has big ambitions in the green economy space. The president of the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB), Nangula Uaandja, is part of the expert panel on “Accelerating green investment in Africa”, and the former Miss Universe for Namibia, Michelle McLean-Bailey, will add some glamour to Day 2 as the MC. Says Michelle: “As an ambassador for Namibia, on both the investment side and tourism side, the green hydrogen perspective and the concept that the government and private sector are putting a lot of backing into it, is that we want to see Namibia become the green hydrogen hub not only of Africa, but of the world.”

Day 2: Thursday, 23 February 2023
MC: Michelle McLean-Bailey, Tourism and Investment Consultant, Namibia

09h00: Keynote session: Inclusive green growth for the future we want

• Keynote address:  Building partnerships to secure a greener future
  MEC Mireille Wenger, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, South Africa
• Keynote address: Dynamics of the local energy market and the JUST transition  
  Aradhna Pandarum, Portfolio Manager: Just Energy Transition, CSIR, South Africa
• Keynote address: Driving pan-African results by bringing together private sector and policy-makers to support extra and intra-African trade, investment and pan-African enterprise
  Dr Amany Asfour, President, Africa Business Council, Egypt

More exciting sessions on Day 2:

• Sustainable economic growth. Green industrialisation: Localising production, building the value chain & scaling manufacturing in Africa
  Moderator: Frank Mugyenyi, Chairman of the Board, The Minerals Africa Development Institution (MADI), Uganda
• FORMULA E accelerating the transition towards smart & sustainable cities. How technology helps realizing the Net Zero Vision
  Moderator: Julia Pallé, Sustainability Director, Formula E, United Kingdom
• Urban sustainability: Building climate resilient cities and sustainable infrastructure systems in Africa
  Moderator: Hastings Chikoko, Director of Regions & Mayoral Engagement & Regional Director for Africa, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, South Africa
• Access to sustainable finance. Blending finance to scale up solutions: DFIs, public finance, green funds and green bonds
  Moderator: Jonathan First, Head of Impact and Climate Finance, Delphos, South Africa
• The ESG investing boom. Initiatives, funding available and what investors are looking for
  Moderator: Palesa Shipalana, Chief Sector Expert: Economy and Infrastructure, Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, South Africa

Project pitches
Africa’s Green Economy Summit will also feature daily project pitches, by start-ups and developers in the e-mobility, infrastructure, manufacturing and renewable energy sectors in an interactive setting where they can meet industry leaders, policy makers, investors and financiers. This includes the Gautrain 2026 & Beyond Project, by Gautrain Management Agency Programme Manager: Funding & PPPs, Nhlahla Piet Sebola on Day 2.

Summit partners
The latest leader in the African mobility space to become an official partner of the summit is Gautrain Management Agency, who has come on board as a platinum sponsor. Other headline sponsors already confirmed include ABB, the African Development Bank, Eskom, Nedbank CIB, Nissan and Uber. The City of Cape Town, the Western Cape Government, Wesgro, Atlantis Special Economic Zone and CSIR are also official event partners.

The full interview with Michelle McLean-Bailey and other experts can be viewed on the event website: https://www.greeneconomysummit.com/event-news and on YouTube.

Click here to see the full programme and complete list of speakers confirmed to date: https://www.greeneconomysummit.com/programme

E-Fest Cape Town
The E-Fest in February 2023 offers a week of special events and entertainment to showcase sustainability, e-mobility and renewable energy solutions, underpinned by the international ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. Also known as the Cape Town E-Prix, it is the first Formula E race to be hosted in sub-Saharan Africa, and the first major open-wheel race since 1993. For the first time, South Africa will be able to witness Formula E’s thrilling line-up in person, as drivers race their electric-powered cars through the streets of Cape Town. “GO GREEN AFRICA” is the E-Fest call to action to businesses and individuals to level up by pledging a commitment to going green.

E-Fest Cape Town event dates:
Africa’s Green Economy Summit
22–23 February 2023: Summit
24 February 2023: Experiential day
Venue: Century City Conference Centre (4-star green star-rated for sustainable venue), Cape Town

Website: www.greeneconomysummit.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvhl1gAhC40NUC0P10xeUng 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/africas-green-economy-summit/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GreenEcoSummit 

evrt Africa (Electric Vehicle Road Trip Africa): 24 February 2023 Website: https://smartermobility-africa.com/evrt-africa/ 

Cape Town E-Prix: 25 February 2023 Venue: Green Point Website: www.capetowneprix.com 

Contact details for Africa’s Green Economy Summit:

Tailor-made partnerships: Errol Bryce
Cell: +27 83 613 4578
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Project Lead: Emmanuelle Nicholls
Cell: +27 83 447 8410
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Media: Annemarie Roodbol
Cell: +27 82 562 7844
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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VUKA Group

Africa’s Green Economy Summit is organised in partnership with E-Movement and Bellcrescent Partners by VUKA Group, which has more than 20 years’ experience in serving the business community across Africa. Formerly known as Clarion Events Africa, a leading Cape Town-based and multi-award-winning organiser of exhibitions, conferences and digital events in the infrastructure, energy, mining, mobility, ecommerce and CX sectors, VUKA is an independent B-BBEE compliant company, adapted to the unique conditions of Africa. Other well-known events by VUKA Group include Enlit Africa, DRC Mining Week, Nigeria Mining Week, DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum, Smarter Mobility Africa, ECOM and CEM Africa.