Two co-located conferences taking place in Kampala from the 6-8 February have received the official endorsement of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development for Uganda and are set to welcome local and international partners to explore the region’s potential for energy development, and the necessity for enhanced off grid energy access across the continent.
The East Africa Energy and Infrastructure Summit (EAEIS) and co-located Africa Energy Forum: Off the Grid (AEF:OTG) will bring together key government and public sector stakeholders, developers, investors and technology providers to explore the opportunities across the East Africa region and beyond.
“We’re really excited to be hosting these two meetings in Uganda for the first time. With increased interest in the East African region, and greater investment in off grid technologies across the continent, we think the timing of these discussions is pivotal, especially with projects such as the Uganda-Tanzania Crude Oil Pipeline paving the way for huge regional economic development. Traditionally, the home of off grid energy solutions has been East Africa and hence co-locating these two streams of dialogues allows for an interesting few days of interwoven ideas” commented Anna Gorzkowska, Producer, EnergyNet.
Private sector companies already confirmed to support the meetings include ENGIE, Fieldstone, Metka, Nedbank, DLA Piper and Shell New Energies, all highlighting their interest in advancing the energy sector across the East African region and more broadly in the off grid energy space across Sub-Saharan Africa.
In Depth
Whilst co-located, the two meetings will still each have a distinct focus. The EAEIS will unite the leading entities in the region to focus on what is needed to unlock investment in energy and infrastructure for regional growth and development. Topics of focus will include the Uganda-Tanzania Crude Oil Pipeline, the importance of debt financing and the future of the energy mix in East Africa.
AEF: OTG will examine the topical issues concerning rolling out off-grid projects across Africa, presenting the current project opportunities and building on the outcomes of the first successful off grid Summit, held in Dar es Salaam in December 2016.
