World Bank report on PPPs in power transmission in Africa presented at Future Energy Central Africa in Yaoundé next week

“The ‘Linking up: Public-Private Partnerships in Power Transmission in Africa’ report has a very simple message: the private sector is already actively involved in power generation in Africa, and the same could happen in the transmission sector as has happened in other parts of the world under what we are calling the independent power transmission (IPT) model.

This is according to Samuel Oguah, an energy specialist with the Energy and Extractives Global Practice at the World Bank and co-author of the report which will be discussed during the upcoming Future Energy Central Africa, taking place from 2-3 October in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The event will also feature a ministerial opening session with the energy ministers from Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Central African Republic. The Cameroon Ministry of Energy and Water will also announce that it is looking for project developers for new, upcoming projects with a capacity of 150MW by 2019.

Scaling up private sector participation
Mr Oguah says the World Bank report “provides practical guidelines for government officials and industry practitioners in Africa on how to scale up private sector participation in the power transmission sector. These includes developing clear policies, crafting legal and regulatory frameworks, testing various models, ensuring adequate revenue and credit enhancements as needed, amongst others. We are looking forward to an interesting panel discussion.

Given the examples of failed concessions in utilities, why does the World Bank energy specialist think IPTs will work? He replies: “concessions typically have a much wider scope and often, require a stronger regulatory environment. While there is always going to be the need for sector-wide regulatory reform, the IPT is better insulated from overall sector reforms because it is project specific. A private company can successfully participate in a long-term contract to build, operate, maintain and finance transmission lines. This is why we see a higher chance of success with this model. This is not to say it can be applied in all cases or under all conditions. There are pre-requisites as outlined in our report but we see potential for its application.

Leading energy meeting platform
Future Energy Central Africa, formerly known as iPAD Cameroon Energy Infrastructure Forum, has evolved into a regional strategic gathering that will allow neighbouring Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe to share their expertise, project developments and plans in order to facilitate regional grid integration.

More programme highlights at Future Energy Central Africa:

Monday, 2 October, Opening session:
09h30: Ministers keynote panel: What macroeconomic changes, national reforms and regional programmes might impact the energy sector in the region?
- Hon. Léopold MBOLI FATRAN, Minister of Mines, Energy and Hydraulics, Central African Republic
- Hon. Eugenio EDU NDONG, Minister of Energy and Industry, Equatorial Guinea
- Hon. Basile ATANGANA KOUNA, Minister of Energy and Water, Cameroon

13h30: Case studies: How to make a project attractive and profitable for the private sector?
* David Grylls, Partner: Energy, Actis, UK
* Romain Py, Executive Head: Transactions at African Infrastructure Investment Managers, AIIM, South Africa
* Jean-Jacques Ngono, Managing Partner Africa, Finegreen, Cote d’Ivoire
* Gregory Ness, Project & Export Finance, Africa, Standard Chartered Bank

15h15: Presentations: What progress has been made to date in the region’s transmission sector?
* How has Cameroon’s power sector unbundled and what are the benefits for the sector? Can other countries follow this model?
- Victor Mbemi, Director, SONATREL, Cameroon
* The transmission network, an essential link for energy access and development in the region
- Maxime Heluin, Commercial Manager, Transmission Solutions West and Central Africa.
- Philippe Bassem, Sales Director, Central Africa & Branch Manager, Siemens, Cameroon
* World Bank report: What models for private-public partnerships in the African Transmission Sector?
- Gianmarco Servetti, Practice leader, Castalia, France

Industry support
Future Energy Central Africa once again enjoys widespread support from the industry with the global electrical services giant Siemens returning as the gold sponsor. Altaaqa Global are silver sponsors while Chad United Technology Africa, Clarke Energy, Duglas Alliance, EDF, Générale du Solaire, Kafue Gorge Regional Training Centre, KPMG and Voith are bronze sponsors.

The full interview with Mr Oguah along with other experts and partners appears on the Future Energy Central Africa website.

Future Energy Central Africa dates and location:
Strategic conference: 2-3 October 2017
Venue: Hilton Yaoundé Hotel, Boulevard du 20 Mai, Yaoundé, Cameroon

Future Energy Central Africa is organised by Spintelligent, a multi-award-winning Cape Town-based exhibition and conference producer across the continent in the infrastructure, real estate, energy, mining, agriculture and education sectors. Other well-known events by Spintelligent include African Utility Week, Future Energy East Africa (formerly EAPIC), Future Energy Nigeria (formerly WAPIC), Future Energy Uganda, Agritech Expo Zambia, Kenya Mining Forum, Nigeria Mining Week and DRC Mining Week. Spintelligent is part of the UK-based Clarion Events Group.

Senior communications manager: Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone: +27 21 700 3558
Email: annemarie.roodbol@spintelligent.com
Website: http://www.future-energy-centralafrica.com/
Postal address: PO Box 321, Steenberg, 7947, South Africa

This release was published on openPR.