Africa Energy Forum offers an important platform for project investment

With global investors clearly looking closer at the opportunities on the African continent, over 450 unique companies from 63 countries worldwide have so far registered to participate in the 2015 Africa Energy Forum holding in Dubai from 8-11 June.

Participants span the value chain of Africa’s power sector – 28 of those are African countries; the largest number to date in the Forum’s 17 year history.

The Forum has 11 Ministers confirmed, including Ministers of Energy, Infrastructure and Finance from Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia, as well as heads of utilities and regulators across Africa.

“We’re delighted to bring AEF to Dubai to enable stakeholders to capture the massive potential of Middle Eastern investment. The response from regional investors has been unprecedented and it will be exciting to learn from them how the Emirates has successfully used its natural resources to turn its economy into a booming global empire,” said EnergyNet’s Simon Gosling.

This year’s Forum introduces the ‘Power In Africa Awards’ & Black Tie Gala Dinner – an ‘Emirati Banquet’ honouring people and businesses with actual projects in operation on the continent.

Twelve Ministerial and Utility-led country specific project briefings will shine the spotlight onto unique countries in Africa to provide detailed industry insights and in-country knowledge.

Sponsored by Aggreko and Norton Rose Fulbright, the ‘EnergyNet Student Engagement Initiative (ESEI)’ brings 32 of the brightest chemical engineers and economics and law students from South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia to Dubai to meet investors and take that next step towards further development and employment.

This year also sees the launch of the ‘ESEI Innovation Hub,’ showcasing creative exciting and scalable renewable technology destined to impact Africa’s access to alternative energy solutions.

‘Access Power’ will present the ‘Access Co-development Fund (ACF)'; a live ‘Dragon’s Den’ style competition for early stage project investment, enabling four shortlisted projects to pitch for up to US$5m of development finance which will be awarded during the Forum in Dubai.

Whether you are a project looking for investment or an investor looking for project, AEF is a very strong platform to engage future partners and understand the opportunities across Africa.