On Friday 14^th June EnergyNet (www.EnergyNet.com) received the ‘Organiser of the Year’ award from the event industry’s leading association the Association of Event Organisers (AEO), for the Africa Energy Forum (aef) (www.Africa-Energy-Forum.com) 2018 in Mauritius.

The award recognised the outstanding commitment from the team in taking aef to Mauritius in celebration of the event’s 20^th 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.” Charlotte Wood-Dow, Senior Operations Manager, EnergyNet

Last week 2,010 attendees, 10 ministers, 9 Secretaries of State and 312 speakers gathered in Lisbon for the 21^st edition of aef. The Forum is a deal-making platform gathering decision-makers from across the energy value chain to discuss opportunities for the investment and development of African power projects.

The event hosted panel discussions, workshops and seminars focusing 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 H.E. Hon. João Galamba officially welcomed investors to the Forum on the morning of Tuesday 11th June.

As a business with 75% 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$4.9m of Development Funding to Joule Africa’s hydropower project in Sierra Leone.

AfDB launched the report “Revisiting Reforms in the Power Sector in Africa, while Wärtsilä launched a Modular Block solution for providing ready-to-go power plants. FIRST (Facility for Investments in Small Renewable Transactions) announced a financing update for a ZAR245m facility for Building Energy’s Kruisvallei Hydroelectric Project.

The 2019 edition launched the Africa Challenge Cup – a football tournament in partnership with Kohler, Principal Partner of Manchester United, Kohler-SDMO and Clarke Energy, raising £30,000 for victims of Cyclone Idai.

These features and announcements further reinforce the Forum’s market-leading position as an industry driver, and suggest exciting times are ahead for Africa’s energy sector.