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Africa Energy Conference held in Africa for the First Time

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Africa Energy Conference

With a long-standing record, the aef brings together key stakeholders to discuss, debate, and shape the future of the continent’s power industry

NAIROBI, Kenya, June 21, 2023/APO Group/ — 

The Africa Energy Forum (aef) kicked off in Nairobi, Kenya its first time in Africa as part of its 25th anniversary celebration at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC). The forum which was organized by EnergyNet (https://www.EnergyNet.co.uk/) and officially endorsed by Kenya’s President H.E. Dr. William Ruto will run from June 20th to 23rd 2023.

The aef, widely recognized as the premier gathering of decision-makers in African energy, has been instrumental in forming partnerships, identifying opportunities, and driving the industry forward over the past 24 years.

“Kenya’s experience of energy sector potential, policies, investment opportunities and projects exemplify the huge possibilities within the African energy and climate action complex. Decades ago, Kenya boldly invested in the development of its renewable energy potential at a time when it was not fashionable to do so,” said President Ruto.

“The decision has paid off: Renewable sources form 73 % of our installed electricity generation capacity, accounting for over 90% of electricity generated and distributed in the country,” he added.

Simon Gosling, MD of EnergyNet Ltd, said, “We are thrilled to bring the Africa Energy Forum to mainland Africa for the first time, marking this special 25th anniversary. This edition will provide an unparalleled platform for stakeholders to connect, collaborate, and drive the continent’s energy agenda forward.”

As it enters its 25th edition, the aef promises to deliver an extraordinary experience for participants, fostering dialogue and promoting collaboration among governments, regulators, utilities, development finance institutions, commercial banks, power developers, technology providers, EPCs, and professional services. KenGen, Kenya’s largest power producer, is the host of this year’s event.

Under the theme “Africa for Africa”, this year’s agenda will prioritise strategic areas such as mining, hydrogen, connectivity, and the “Just Transition”, to advancing projects, partnerships, and business development in the energy sector. Adam Cortese, CEO of Sun Africa said, “We are at the forefront of clean energy in Africa. With our unmatched technical expertise, supply chain capabilities, best-in-class EPC partners, and access to capital, we deliver clean energy solutions with market-leading costs and efficiency, from utility-scale installations all the way down to microgrids.”

Kenya boldly invested in the development of its renewable energy potential at a time when it was not fashionable to do so

“Clean energy is at the core of Sun Africa’s commercial strategy. We deliver clean energy solutions to our partners by providing our partners with vast technical expertise, best in class EPC partners and access to capital. Our solutions have market leading costs and efficiency, including utility scale installations and microgrids,” he added.

Best known for organizing the aef, EnergyNet has established itself as the premier business development meeting place for senior-level decision-makers in Africa’s power sector. With a long-standing record, the aef brings together key stakeholders to discuss, debate, and shape the future of the continent’s power industry.

Running alongside aef, the Youth Energy Summit (YES!) will return for its second edition, dedicated to empowering and equipping the next generation of African energy leaders. YES! will gather over 1,000 participants, including early career professionals, entrepreneurs, students, and educators, to enhance their skills, connections, and business readiness to accelerate access to reliable energy across the continent. Through partnerships with various universities across Africa, YES! aims to engage students and educators in dialogue, better-preparing graduates for today’s fast-moving workforce. This year, with the support of key partnerships spanning corporates, foundations, NGOs, universities, and sector initiatives, YES! can showcase its credentials alongside aef on home soil.

A noteworthy addition to this year’s event is the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), joining as the event’s first foundational partner. Comprising philanthropists, local entrepreneurs, governments, technology enablers, policymakers, and finance partners, GEAPP aims to support developing countries’ shift to a clean energy, pro-growth model that ensures universal energy access and economic development.

Attendees at the aef will have the opportunity to engage with stakeholders and decision-makers from across the continent and around the world. They can participate in high-level panel discussions, interactive workshops, and talks covering a wide range of themes and issues, including the expansion of renewables in Africa, overcoming barriers to energy transition in the mining sectors, and Africa’s potential to become a global hydrogen powerhouse.

Africa Energy Forum will cover a range of exciting themes and topics vital to the African energy sector. With engaging panel discussions and insightful topics, attendees can expect a packed agenda filled with knowledge sharing and valuable insights for the African energy sector.

The increasing pace and scale of renewable energy projects in Africa and project pipelines will be explored, as well as the growing role of Africa’s gas resources in today’s geopolitical context. Discussions and talks will also focus on breaking down barriers to energy transition in the mining sector, the challenges and opportunities around capital flow and risk mitigation in today’s markets and financing the African ‘transition’.

This year’s event will also feature new streams that delve into two important topics: ‘Mining, Critical Minerals and Energy’ and ‘Hydrogen – Africa’s Opportunity’.

By bringing together industry leaders, experts, policymakers, and stakeholders, the aef facilitates the exchange of ideas, best practices, and innovative approaches to address the continent’s energy challenges. Through these engagements, the aef aims to catalyse the development of sustainable energy projects, technologies, and policies that will contribute to the continent’s energy transition and support its economic growth and social development.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of EnergyNet Ltd..

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China’s digital hub Hangzhou hosts conference on AI, OPC

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June 30, 2026

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OPC

HANGZHOU, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 June 2026 – The inaugural AI+OPC Innovation and Development Conference was held from June 29 to 30 in Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, capital city of east China’s Zhejiang Province. Centered on one-person company (OPC), a new form of smart economy in the AI era, the conference program comprised one opening ceremony and two parallel breakout sessions.

It gathered around 400 delegates from government departments, industry associations, financial institutions, AI enterprises and OPC startup operators across the country. Participants exchanged insights on AI innovation pathways and cross-industry integration strategies, injecting strong impetus into Hangzhou’s ambition to develop a national benchmark hub for AI+OPC entrepreneurship.

A series of key launches and milestone ceremonies took place during the opening segment. Official releases included the 2026 national OPC development observation report, Hangzhou’s 2026–2028 action plan and supporting policies to build a national AI+OPC entrepreneurship hub, and a catalog of actionable AI+OPC application scenarios. Attendees also received an in-depth interpretation of the specifications for AI-enabled OPC community services and evaluation.

The ceremony featured multiple landmark initiatives: plaque awarding for Hangzhou’s priority AI+OPC incubation communities and dedicated observation sites, the official launch of the AI+OPC Community Alliance initiative, and a kickoff marking the official construction of the national AI+OPC entrepreneurship hub.

The open forum session featured keynote speeches from distinguished industry and academic leaders. Speakers included Pan Yunhe, former executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor at Zhejiang University; Liang Gui, former executive vice governor of Jiangxi Province and ex-director of the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; and Zou Ling, head of Hong Hub, Shangcheng District’s single-member unicorn startup acceleration community, who shared cutting-edge insights from varied perspectives.

A panel dialogue followed, bringing together representatives from Moshu OPC Community (Beijing E-Town), the School of Future Science and Engineering at Soochow University, Qingju Hub · Future Digital Intelligence Port (Shangcheng District), and Puhua Capital for in-depth industry exchanges.

Complementary concurrent events held throughout the conference included an OPC capital-industry matchmaking salon, a symposium on industry-education integration for AI-powered OPC sectors, and a national exchange forum for AI+OPC community practitioners.

OPC has emerged as a vibrant new engine driving economic vitality and underpinning high-quality development. Against the backdrop of a new development era, the inaugural Hangzhou AI+OPC Innovation and Development Conference unites OPC innovators nationwide.

Drawing on the creative energy of millions of independent super-individual operators, the event delivers sustained digital momentum to fuel Hangzhou’s super-individual economy, while rolling out replicable local practices and actionable Hangzhou solutions to advance high-quality growth of smart economies nationwide.

 

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Hainan FTP marks 6-month milestone of special customs operations, signs deals during Hong Kong visit

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June 30, 2026

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Hong Kong

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 June 2026 – As the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) marked the six-month milestone since the launch of its full special customs operations, a Hainan provincial delegation wrapped up a three-day visit to Hong Kong. During the visit, the delegation signed deepened cooperation agreements with several major local chambers of commerce and promoted the latest policies introduced since the island-wide special customs operations took effect.

According to data released by Hainan Province during the visit, Hainan’s foreign trade has surged since the launch of special customs operations. As of June 17, the province’s total goods imports and exports reached RMB 173.98 billion (approximately US$24 billion), up 54.6% year on year. Imports of zero-tariff goods hit RMB 2.645 billion, a 120% jump that generated tariff savings of RMB 440 million. A total of 172,100 new market entities were registered—a 61% increase—including 1,240 foreign-invested enterprises. Zero-tariff items now account for 74% of all tariff lines, benefiting more than 12,000 market entities.

During the Hong Kong visit, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Hainan Provincial Committee (CCPIT Hainan) signed separate deepened cooperation MOUs with the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. Under the MOUs, the parties will establish a regular liaison mechanism for the periodic exchange of economic and trade information, and will promote collaboration in areas including professional services, green finance, the digital economy, supply chain management, and cultural tourism. Mutual enterprise service desks will be set up to provide consulting services regarding policies and projects. The parties will leverage their complementary strengths to help Chinese mainland enterprises access overseas markets via Hong Kong, while facilitating Hong Kong companies’ entry into the Chinese mainland through Hainan.

The delegation also held talks with the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, exploring ways for British and American businesses to leverage Hainan’s value-added processing tariff exemptions and multifunctional free trade accounts to position themselves in regional supply chains and cross-border investment and financing. HSBC, De Beers, and other British firms are already active in Hainan, and the UK served as the Guest of Honor country at the 2025 China International Consumer Products Expo.

According to industry analysts, amid the shifting international trade landscape, Hainan is leveraging Hong Kong’s “super-connector” role to accelerate its integration with global capital and business networks, while simultaneously offering the Hong Kong business community a policy testing ground for entering the Chinese mainland market.

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Africa’s Grid Constraints Come into Focus as Regional Markets Push Toward Integration

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4 days ago

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June 26, 2026

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Africa

Regional power pools are advancing and renewable pipelines are growing, but the regulatory and financial architecture needed to connect them remains the continent’s most critical infrastructure gap – an issue central to the Power Africa Today conference at AEW 2026

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 25, 2026/APO Group/ –Africa’s electricity demand is projected to nearly double to 2,291 TWh by 2050, requiring an estimated $30 billion in transmission and grid infrastructure investment to unlock and integrate new generation capacity. Yet across the continent, grid systems are struggling to keep pace with rapidly expanding supply pipelines and rising demand.

In Nigeria, repeated nationwide grid collapses as recently as February 2026 underscore the fragility of aging transmission infrastructure. In East Africa, tower failures along the 428 km Loiyangalani-Suswa line temporarily stranded output from Lake Turkana Wind Power – Africa’s largest wind installation. Meanwhile, demand growth pressures are accelerating across North Africa, where electricity consumption is expected to rise by around 50% by 2035, driven by urbanization, desalination projects, and climate-related temperature increases.

Despite these constraints, generation investment continues to accelerate across Africa, particularly in renewables, gas-to-power and hybrid systems. However, without equivalent investment in transmission and interconnection, much of this new capacity risks being underutilized or stranded. This growing imbalance between generation and grid capacity is driving a sharper focus on system-wide planning and regional market design – issues that will be central to the newly launched Power Africa Today conference at African Energy Week 2026. The platform will bring together policymakers, utilities, investors and developers to explore how regional interconnection, cross-border trading frameworks and financing structures can better align generation growth with grid expansion.

Power Markets Experiment with Reform

Alongside infrastructure challenges, Africa’s electricity sector is undergoing gradual – but uneven – market reform. Most countries still operate vertically integrated systems dominated by state utilities, but a growing number are introducing competitive frameworks to attract private capital and improve efficiency.

Zimbabwe opened its electricity market to full private participation across generation, transmission and distribution in 2025, targeting $9 billion in new investment. South Africa is advancing one of the continent’s most ambitious grid expansion programs, with plans for 14,500 km of new transmission lines and 133,000 MVA of transformer capacity by 2034, alongside mechanisms designed to crowd in private financing. Kenya, meanwhile, has introduced open access regulations enabling independent power producers to wheel electricity directly to multiple off-takers, reshaping how generation assets interface with the grid.

Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future

Regional Integration Remains Fragmented

Efforts to connect Africa’s fragmented power systems are progressing, though at different speeds across regions. In Southern Africa, the World Bank’s RETRADE SAPP program, approved in 2025, is deploying $12 million to strengthen renewable integration and transmission capacity across 12 member states. In East Africa, the Ethiopia–Kenya–Tanzania Electricity Highway is now in trial operations at up to 2,000 MW, marking a significant step toward a more interconnected regional grid.

West Africa is also moving toward deeper integration, with permanent synchronization of the West Africa Power Pool expected in 2026. Analysts, including the African Finance Corporation, argue that such synchronization is critical to unlocking large-scale hydropower potential and industrial demand across the region. Longer term, full synchronization between the Eastern and Southern African power pools – targeted for the end of 2026 – could create one of the world’s largest cross-border electricity trading corridors.

Building Bankable Financial Architectures

While interconnection is advancing, infrastructure alone is not enough to create investable electricity markets. Investors consistently cite the lack of standardized offtake structures, creditworthy counterparties, and cross-border payment guarantees as key barriers to scaling capital deployment.

New models are emerging to address these constraints. Africa GreenCo, operating across Zambia, Namibia and South Africa, is helping to aggregate independent power producers under a single creditworthy intermediary, standardizing power purchase agreements and reducing counterparty risk. At a broader level, AUDA-NEPAD estimates that Africa requires around $30 billion in additional investment to complete priority transmission corridors and establish three fully interconnected regional trading blocs by 2030.

“Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “The question at Africa Energy Week is not whether integration is possible – the evidence is already there. The question is which regulatory frameworks and financial structures will get projects to financial close, and which markets will be ready when capital is looking to move.”

The Power Africa Today conference will run alongside AEW 2026, taking place October 12–16 in Cape Town, and will focus on the regulatory, financial and infrastructural architecture needed to build interconnected electricity markets capable of attracting institutional capital and delivering reliable, cross-border power at scale.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

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