JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, October 2021/ — African Energy Week (AEW) 2021, taking place on the 9th-12th of November, in partnership with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, unites global and African stakeholders for four days of networking, engagement, and deal-making.
The event is set to be transformative for both the African energy sector and the regional economy, enhancing tourism, driving job creation, and initiating a much-needed economic recovery. Consolidating the event’s success, the City of Cape Town has officially partnered with AEW 2021, offering critical support for Africa’s premier energy event.
AEW 2021 has placed Africa’s position in the global energy transition debate as a top priority, providing a platform for collaborative discussions to be held on the continent’s progress to advance renewable energy investment and development. Correspondingly, the City of Cape Town has emerged as leader in clean energy strategies, having placed an emphasis on renewable energy utilization in a bid to mitigate climate change impacts.
Notably, through the City of Cape Town’s climate change strategy, in which the city aims “to become a city that is climate resilient, resource efficient and lower carbon, in order to enable sustainable and inclusive economic and social development and environmental sustainability,” significant progress is being made to reduce emissions and drive renewable developments.
Comprising 35 climate change combatting goals, including a carbon reduction target of 37% by the year 2040 and carbon neutrality by 2050, the City of Cape Town has become a leader in green developments.
The policy comprises four overarching actions driving the city’s clean energy revolution. Namely, governance, planning, infrastructure, and behaviour.
By ensuring the city and its stakeholders take a collaborative approach to mitigating climate change, the City of Cape Town is leading the way in South Africa’s climate strategy.
Within the city’s climate policy, and with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, the City of Cape Town has included specific mitigation strategies, of which energy is a key component. Specifically, the city is focused on taking active steps to expand renewable energy provisions in both the retail and supply sectors. Incentivizing independent power producers, the city is driving clean power generation, distribution, and utilization.
Additionally, with the aim of preparing for an inverter-based grid, the city is enabling tariff and business model development and technical preparations. In the long-term, the city aims to support the development of a hydrogen economy, recognizing the role the resource will play within the transport, industry, and manufacturing sectors. AEW 2021 will help drive this objective, with collaborative discussions offered on South Africa’s future hydrogen economy and renewable energy investment and development.
“The City of Cape Town is a notable example of how productive policy and an integrated, multi-stakeholder approach can help drive Africa’s energy transition. The city is taking significant steps to reduce carbon emissions, enhancing renewable developments, and addressing energy poverty,” stated Katie Briant, Operations and Events Director for AEW 2021.
Meanwhile, known as the ‘Mother City’, Cape Town has been hailed as one of Africa’s top tourism destinations, attracting millions of tourists each year. The city represents a centre of economic and tourism activity, boasting a range of tourism attractions from adventure tourism to wellness, to cultural. For delegates coming to AEW 2021, opportunities that extend conference activities are available.
Top attractions include the world-renowned Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, Robben Island, the V&A Waterfront, where AEW 2021 is taking place, the Castle of Good Hope, the Heart of Cape Town Museum, and much more. As the South African economy begins to reopen, international travel opens up for global travellers, and tourism resumes to Africa’s top destination, AEW 2021 will be significant in driving a post-COVID-19 recovery in the City of Cape Town.
“The City of Cape Town is a proud supporter of AEW 2021. The investment and job creation opportunities presented by the green economy are massive. In the green energy space alone, according to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, if South Africa builds 5GW of renewable energy per annum, this could unlock nearly R500-billion in investments over the next decade, while creating 50 000 jobs per annum in the construction and operation of wind and solar plants.
Pivotal to these investments and the growth of the green economy is GreenCape, a City-funded Special Business Partner that has helped to facilitate and support up to R42 billion of investments in renewable energy projects and manufacturing, in addition to 19 000 local jobs,” stated Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management.
“AEW 2021’s partnership with the City of Cape Town only further consolidates the event’s position as a world-leading energy event. AEW 2021 is committed to both Africa’s energy sector and overall economy, and the partnership ensures that the City of Cape Town fully benefits from the opportunities created by the event.
….As Africa starts to see large-scale events resuming after the COVID-19 pandemic, AEW 2021 will be a pioneer in new adapted event formats that prioritize delegate safety. Supported by the City of Cape Town, AEW 2021 is set to be even more successful than originally anticipated,” continued Briant.
AEW 2021, in partnership with South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy DMRE, is the AEC’s annual conference, exhibition and networking event.
AEW 2021 unites African energy stakeholders with investors and international partners to drive industry growth and development and promote Africa as the destination for energy investments.
For more information about Africa’s premier energy event, please visit www.AEW2021.com or www.EnergyChamber.org and/or reach out directly to Amina Williams at amina.williams@energychamber.org
For registration related enquiries, please contact registration@aew2021.com
For sales-related enquiries, please contact sales@aew2021.com
For media-related enquiries, please contact media@aew2021.com
For speaker opportunity-related enquiries, please contact speakers@aew2021.com
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.
