African Utility Week to focus on getting investors excited about power projects on the continent

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African Utility Week to focus on getting investors excited about power projects on the continent

“The private sector will have to play a crucial role”

 

The new GET FiT investment mechanism which brings private and public investors together, the proposed BRICS Bank and China’s funding relationship with Africa are some of the updates featured during the Investment & Finance track of the upcoming African Utility Week conference and expo from 14-15 May in Cape Town.  The event brings together more than 5000 power professionals across the entire ecosystem for the African water and power sectors.

“The power sector has to fight for its share of investment, private or public, like any other sector out there”, says Claire Volkwyn, African Utility Week’s programme director, “and while we sometimes need to be a little creative or innovative in how the funding of deals is put together, in terms of guarantee mechanisms etc., the African power sector remains a massive opportunity for financiers.” 

 

Dr Jan Martin Witte, Senior Project Manager at KfW Development Bank in Germany, is one of the high-level speakers on the programme and will inform delegates about the new GET FiT renewable energy funding mechanism by which the private sector is incentivised to get involved.


Addressing the financial challenges

He says the GET FiT mechanism was designed to help finance ready-to-build small scale renewable energy projects in Uganda and address the financial challenges, particularly the comparatively low REFiT tariff schedule and  the recent liquidity crisis at the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company which has undermined investor confidence.

 

Dr Witte explains how GET FiT will address these issues:  “at the request of the government of Uganda, the World Bank is to cover the political and commercial risk through a modified version of its Partial Risk Guarantee product.  Furthermore, KfW has raised funding from Norway, UK (International Climate Fund), Germany and EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund in order to provide a tariff top-up of two additional dollar cents on the current rate.  At this stage, Norway and the UK have committed funding to the programme.”


He says this will provide a strong incentive for private developers to bring projects to market:  “it will also encourage commercial banks to enter the sector.  The implementation of the programme is anticipated in February this year when the first request for proposals will be sent out and published.”

 

Unique funding concept
The KfW Senior Project Manager says this concept is unique and innovative “because we try to incentivise the private sector to get involved and so leverage more private capital for investments in renewable energy generation in Africa.  The traditional way in the past would be to provide cheap credit lines to commercial banks in countries to finance these projects.  Our mechanism will provide support directly to projects.  The combination of the proposed World Bank guarantee mechanism (which would for the first time be applied to a series of smaller renewable energy generation projects) and the GET FiT tariff increment is something that has not been done before.” 

 

He says furthermore that in development projects the money is usually provided upfront.  “However”, he explains, “in this case, we will provide the tariff increment to the investors once the projects have delivered electricity – we shift the entire performance risk to the private sector.”


KfW plans to kick off the first GET FiT financed projects in Uganda and is also looking at countries such as Zambia, Rwanda, Ghana and Tanzania for future implementation.  Says Dr Jan Martin Witte:  “the legal and regulatory framework conditions for private investments in energy must be right ­– we do not expect easy replication of GET FiT from Uganda to other markets.”

 

PPPs the way forward
According to dr Witte African governments and donors alone will not be able to finance the huge energy infrastructure requirements of the continent.  He notes:  “the private sector will have to play a crucial role, by providing capital and expertise.  Proper regulatory and legally enabling conditions need to be in place, however, for the private sector to come on board.  GET FiT is one small way in which donors and DFIs can support reform-minded governments in the region to leverage private capital for investment.”

 

More expert topics and speakers in the Investment & Finance track at Africa Utility Week include:

 

·         Potential for generation, transmission and distribution in Ethiopia
Minister Womdimu Tekle, Minister of State, Water and Energy, Ethiopia

  • Regulatory frameworks governing tariff determination across Africa

Joseph Kapika, Researcher: Management Programme in Infrastructure Reform & Regulation, University of Cape Town, South Africa

·         Cost reflective tariffs:  Balancing commercial and socio-economic imperatives
Dr Sam Amadi, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Nigeria

  • BRICS Development Bank

Dr Sam Muradzikwa, Chief Economist, Development Bank of Southern Africa, Zimbabwe

  • Innovative funding can change the face of your project

Carlo Van Wageningen, Chairman, Lake Turkana

  • China's funding relationship with Africa

Senior representative, China-Africa Development Fund, China

  • The EU/Universal Access Fund

Kjell Larsson, Energy Advisor, European Commission, Belgium

  • Funding power projects with local finance:  Rwanda's 15MW peat project

Charles Nyirahuku, Manager: Peat, Methane & Petroleum, EWSA, Rwanda

 

African Utility Week dates and location: 
Exhibition & Conference: 14-15 May 2013 
Pre-conference Workshops: 13 May 2013

Site Visits: 16 May 2013
Location:  CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa 

Websites:  www.african-utility-week.com ; www.clean-power-africa.com


Notes for Editor

About African Utility Week
African Utility Week brings together the entire ecosystem for the African water and power sector, from high level government representatives, utilities and municipalities, regulators and power pools to consultants, vendors, service providers and energy intensive power users for the purpose of sharing and determining the future development of Africa’s power industry.

Spintelligent
Spintelligent is part of Clarion Events, a global business-to-business event organiser with over 500 staff in offices in the UK, Netherlands, United States, South Africa, Brazil, UAE and Singapore. Spintelligent forms part of Clarion’s specialist energy and utilities portfolio which also includes Synergy and The Energy Exchange. Spintelligent has established itself as the key strategic information provider to the global metering, meter-to-cash and customer-end technology sector and as a specialist in African infrastructure development, with a focus on the power and mining sectors.

For more than 13 years, Spintelligent has been building, sharing, connecting and thinking about the business sectors we serve. Our industry leading media products – publications, online portals, conferences, exhibitions, industry reports – enable us to share knowledge and insights, build relationships and deliver real business value to our customers and stakeholders.

Spintelligent is recognised for its print and electronic publications, with market-leading brands including Metering International, ESI Africa and Mining Review Africa. Its regular global events and exhibitions, as well as its critical business intelligence and integrated marketing services make it a leader in its field. The company’s highly skilled resources in management, marketing, research and production allow for unique products bridging the developed and developing worlds.

Contact:
Communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3558
mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  annemarie.roodbol@clarionevents.com

 

 

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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