Africa’s Green Economy Summit, scheduled to take place in Cape Town from 22–24 February, is set to be an exciting event with an outstanding line-up of speakers and official partners, including global mobility giant Uber and car manufacturer Nissan. The event is part of E-Fest Cape Town, which will culminate in the Formula E 2023 Cape Town E-Prix race on 25 February.
The summit aims to bring together investors, developers and governments to discuss investment prospects in the fields of green hydrogen, EVs and hybrid vehicles, energy storage, solar, hydro and wind energy, infrastructure development, urban sustainability, and manufacturing. The event will feature discussions on topics such as “Accelerating Green Investment in Africa” and “Mobility for Social Inclusion and Economic Opportunity”.
One of the keynote speakers, Kagiso Khaole, the General Manager of Southern Africa at Uber, will be delivering a keynote address in the session on “Mobility for Social Inclusion and Economic Opportunity”. H.E. Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, African Union Commission, Ethiopia, will be the opening session keynote speaker and will talk about de-risking investments so that lenders and investors can support Africa’s net zero transition through the African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB). Other speakers include Nangula Uaandja, President of the Namibian Investment Promotions Development Board; Dr Amany Asfour, President of the Africa Business Council; Mandy Rambharos, Vice-President of Global Climate Cooperation at the Environmental Defence Fund, and Professor Henry Tse, Director of New Mobility Technologies at Catapult Connected Places in the UK.
The World Bank’s South Asia Regional Director of Sustainable Development, John Roome, will be moderating the session on “Accelerating Green Investment in Africa” and will set the scene for the discussions. Roome suggests that Africa doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel and should follow the four examples from India. India has been successful in driving down the price of LED light bulbs, creating a new business opportunity in street lighting, expanding e-buses across the country, expanding rooftop solar, and expanding renewables through renewable energy solar energy farms, using a combination of public policy, private investment, and financial sector innovation.
One of the important themes of the summit is the continent’s commitment to key strategies for investment-ready green infrastructure projects. Hydrogen is receiving a lot of attention as a key component of driving net zero. Mardé van Wyk, a venture partner at Advanced Pioneer Ventures, a company in the UK that invests in hydrogen technology, suggests that the opportunity is there and that it’s a matter of all the players in the finance ecosystem coming together to ensure that hydrogen is a key component of driving net zero.
The City of Cape Town, which is already home to a thriving green economy, is looking forward to welcoming the summit delegates to create opportunities to invest in this innovative space. The E-Fest in February 2023 offers a week of special events and entertainment to showcase sustainability, e-mobility, and renewable energy solutions, underpinned by the international ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. The Cape Town E-Prix is the first Formula E event to take place on the African continent and is expected to be a great showcase for the region’s growing green economy.