Africa’s Green Economy Summit Provided Extra Kick-Start for Green Invasion of the Continent
The hugely successful Africa’s Green Economy Summit held in February during the E-Fest in Cape Town, culminating in the sold-out Formula E championship race attended by more than 25-thousand people, “created that extra kick-start for the much-needed green invasion that our continent needs,” says David Ashdown, CEO of VUKA Group, organisers of the summit.
Cape Town, South Africa, April 11, 2023 --(PR.com)-- The hugely successful Africa’s Green Economy Summit held in February during the E-Fest in Cape Town, culminating in the sold-out Formula E championship race attended by more than 25-thousand people, “created that extra kick-start for the much-needed green invasion that our continent needs,” says David Ashdown, CEO of VUKA Group, organisers of the summit.
Ashdown adds: “It was a great success. Besides the various presentations and discussions, we had entrepreneurs pitching projects to investors at our pitch deck lounge, and our concierge match-making service set up in excess of 120 meetings, with one project securing US$2 million in seed funding on the day. That is the excitement of creating a deal-making environment. We’ve created a very robust platform to build from for the future.”
With a jam-packed programme of more than 80 expert speakers, Africa’s Green Economy Summit brought together financiers, project developers, and government representatives, highlighting investment prospects that exist across the continent in the fields of green hydrogen, EVs, energy storage, solar, hydro and wind energy, infrastructure development, urban sustainability as well as manufacturing.
Cape Town and Western Cape proud hosts
As host province of the event during a week that loadshedding continued to cause problems for South African households and businesses alike, the Western Cape government had a strong presence at Africa’s Green Economy Summit, including the Premier Alan Winde, and took every opportunity to explain the steps that the local government was taking to alleviate the effects of the current electricity crisis on consumers and businesses as well as providing opportunities for investment in the local green economy.
“Cape Town was proud to host Africa’s Green Economy Summit,” says the city’s Executive Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis. “We’re on a mission to not only make our city the best and easiest place to do business on the continent, but also to position it as the green economy capital of Africa. But building a green economy is about far more than the City’s own energy programme. The opportunities that exist in green hydrogen, energy storage, electric vehicles and a wide range of manufacturing, to name but a few, have the potential to transform our local economy.”
Go Green Africa
Iain Banner, the founder of e-Movement, that brought the Formula E to Africa, was part of the stellar line-up of local, continental and global leaders from the spheres of politics, business and institutions. During the opening session, he announced the launch of Go Green Africa, a collaborative platform to accelerate
Africa’s just energy transition.
“No one government, organisation, or individual will ever solve the problem of climate change and environmental damage,” Banner stressed.
Other headlining speakers included Cape Town’s Executive Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, Western Cape Provincial Minister for Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC Anroux Marais, Gautrain Management Agency CEO William Dachs, AfDB DDG Southern Africa Kennedy Mbekeani, EU Ambassador to South Africa H.E. Sandra Kramer, World Bank South Asia Regional Director of Sustainable Development John Roome as well as the African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy H.E. Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, who professed to have been a racing driver in her youth, and impressed and delighted delegates during a keynote with her spirited delivery, sense of humour and depth of knowledge.
Formula E inspiring example
A real-life inspiring and successful example of how a specific vision and years of patient dedication to the development of green technology can create an entirely new industry was reiterated during a session with the organisers and teams in the Formula E racing competition.
“When we started the Formula E 12 years ago, we had no technology,” Alberto Longo, Co-Founder and CCO of Formula E remembered. Longo was involved in the regular (combustion engine) Grand Prix prior to this venture but increasingly found that sponsors wanted to be involved in greener, more sustainable branding activities.
He explained that during the first four years of the Formula E competition, every team needed two cars to finish a race because of the limited range of the batteries. “Now, step by step, the technology is helping us to have faster cars. Without the technology we would not be here. Twelve years ago, there were two barriers for EVs, price and range of battery. The cars and batteries are still more expensive but we are getting there.”
Africa’s Green Economy Summit was supported by the following key partners: The Western Cape Government, the City of Cape Town, Wesgro, CSIR, Atlantis Special Economic Zone, South African Tourism. The following companies and institutions were event sponsors: Gautrain (platinum), ABB, AfDB, Eskom as well as Nedbank CIB, Nissan and Uber.
The next summit will take place in February 2024, dates to be confirmed.
Ashdown adds: “It was a great success. Besides the various presentations and discussions, we had entrepreneurs pitching projects to investors at our pitch deck lounge, and our concierge match-making service set up in excess of 120 meetings, with one project securing US$2 million in seed funding on the day. That is the excitement of creating a deal-making environment. We’ve created a very robust platform to build from for the future.”
With a jam-packed programme of more than 80 expert speakers, Africa’s Green Economy Summit brought together financiers, project developers, and government representatives, highlighting investment prospects that exist across the continent in the fields of green hydrogen, EVs, energy storage, solar, hydro and wind energy, infrastructure development, urban sustainability as well as manufacturing.
Cape Town and Western Cape proud hosts
As host province of the event during a week that loadshedding continued to cause problems for South African households and businesses alike, the Western Cape government had a strong presence at Africa’s Green Economy Summit, including the Premier Alan Winde, and took every opportunity to explain the steps that the local government was taking to alleviate the effects of the current electricity crisis on consumers and businesses as well as providing opportunities for investment in the local green economy.
“Cape Town was proud to host Africa’s Green Economy Summit,” says the city’s Executive Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis. “We’re on a mission to not only make our city the best and easiest place to do business on the continent, but also to position it as the green economy capital of Africa. But building a green economy is about far more than the City’s own energy programme. The opportunities that exist in green hydrogen, energy storage, electric vehicles and a wide range of manufacturing, to name but a few, have the potential to transform our local economy.”
Go Green Africa
Iain Banner, the founder of e-Movement, that brought the Formula E to Africa, was part of the stellar line-up of local, continental and global leaders from the spheres of politics, business and institutions. During the opening session, he announced the launch of Go Green Africa, a collaborative platform to accelerate
Africa’s just energy transition.
“No one government, organisation, or individual will ever solve the problem of climate change and environmental damage,” Banner stressed.
Other headlining speakers included Cape Town’s Executive Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, Western Cape Provincial Minister for Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC Anroux Marais, Gautrain Management Agency CEO William Dachs, AfDB DDG Southern Africa Kennedy Mbekeani, EU Ambassador to South Africa H.E. Sandra Kramer, World Bank South Asia Regional Director of Sustainable Development John Roome as well as the African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy H.E. Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, who professed to have been a racing driver in her youth, and impressed and delighted delegates during a keynote with her spirited delivery, sense of humour and depth of knowledge.
Formula E inspiring example
A real-life inspiring and successful example of how a specific vision and years of patient dedication to the development of green technology can create an entirely new industry was reiterated during a session with the organisers and teams in the Formula E racing competition.
“When we started the Formula E 12 years ago, we had no technology,” Alberto Longo, Co-Founder and CCO of Formula E remembered. Longo was involved in the regular (combustion engine) Grand Prix prior to this venture but increasingly found that sponsors wanted to be involved in greener, more sustainable branding activities.
He explained that during the first four years of the Formula E competition, every team needed two cars to finish a race because of the limited range of the batteries. “Now, step by step, the technology is helping us to have faster cars. Without the technology we would not be here. Twelve years ago, there were two barriers for EVs, price and range of battery. The cars and batteries are still more expensive but we are getting there.”
Africa’s Green Economy Summit was supported by the following key partners: The Western Cape Government, the City of Cape Town, Wesgro, CSIR, Atlantis Special Economic Zone, South African Tourism. The following companies and institutions were event sponsors: Gautrain (platinum), ABB, AfDB, Eskom as well as Nedbank CIB, Nissan and Uber.
The next summit will take place in February 2024, dates to be confirmed.
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Africa's Green Economy Summit
Annemarie Roodbol
+27825627844
http://www.greeneconomysummit.com/
Annemarie Roodbol
+27825627844
http://www.greeneconomysummit.com/
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