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AIX: Nairobi 2019

2-3 October 2019

Africa Investment Exchange: Nairobi

Power & Renewables Executive Briefing

2-3 October 2019

AIX: Nairobi offers a comprehensive overview of the state of the market in East Africa.

Co-produced by CbI’s African Energy, the meeting is structured around panel-led sessions with the participating audience and held under the Chatham House Rule to facilitate an open discussion.

More than 45 panellists confirmed

Download the agenda

The format and size of the meeting provides a rare opportunity to hear a wide range of public and private sector perspectives on the developments and challenges facing the region’s diverse and dynamic energy sector.

Sponsored by Actis, African Trade Insurance Agency, AIIM, DNV GL and Kipeto Energy, supported by Power Africa and GreenMax Capital Advisors, AIX: Nairobi brings together project developers, suppliers of off-grid services, policy-makers, established and non-traditional investment sources and other actors in the industry. The UK Department for International Trade hosted the pre-conference reception on 1 October.

Participants benefit from insights provided by CbI’s African Energy Live Data platform which provides unique insights into continental electricity supply industry trends, project pipelines and demand growth projections.

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Photos from AIX: Nairobi 2019

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Day 1 – AIX Nairobi 2019

Wednesday 2 October

08h30 to 09h00

Registration & coffee at Fairmont the Norfolk Hotel, Nairobi

09h00 to 10h30

The state of the continental industry

Chair: Jon Marks, Chariman, CbI

Findings from the African Energy Live Data platform will provide unique insights into continental electricity supply industry trends.
  • Delegates will receive a unique data pack.
A high-level panel including government officials and senior industry players will then provide an update on electrification programmes and strategies to increase energy access, as well as to strengthen the grid, across the continent.
  • Interactive discussion will then ask: what do administrations and regulators want from DFI initiatives and support schemes?
  • What are the challenges and expectations of working with the private sector?
  • Can investors make money and governments deliver cost-effective services at the same time?
  • Are public utilities’ days numbered?
  • Is transmission a vital backbone or a blockage in the system?
  • It has become a cliché that money for projects is no longer a problem. Is this really the case?
  • Distribution models: what are the options, challenges and pitfalls?

10h30 Coffee

11h00 to 12h00

Community Engagement Strategy

Chair: Jon Marks, Chairman, CbI

How to secure community engagement for power projects.

  • Conducting community engagement throughout the project lifecycle
  • Managing land related issues
  • Sharing best practices

13h30 to 14h45

Accelerating C&I

Chair: Ameet Shah, Chairman, Astonfield Solar
Focusing on the options available to customers in the commercial and industrial space
  • Developments based on PPAs, lease and commercial loan structures.
  • Managing portfolios – O&M, monitoring, data, reporting and risk.
  • EPC and technology solutions.

14h30 to 15h30

Storage snapshot

Chair: Nikhath Zigmund, Business Development Director, BioTherm
Senior Energy Specialist at DNV GL, Gabriel Kroes kicks off the discussion and focuses on where storage is heading in the next 20 years.
  • How will storage change the African energy landscape.
  • Understanding the technologies, cost and application.
  • How to structure a PPA for a storage project.

15h30 Coffee

16h00 to 17h30

The financing ecosystem

Showcasing Nairobi’s role as an important regional hub for the energy industry. This session and the following reception brings representatives from local companies and finance together with international developers and investors to discuss:
  • Nairobi’s attraction as a financial/business hub.
  • Mobilising domestic finance.
  • What it takes to attract lenders and investors to invest in the region’s electricity supply industry.
  • Attracting international institutional investors, as well as impact investors, family offices and other investor classes.
  • The role of commercial banks, DFIs and multilaterals.

17h30 Reception at Fairmont the Norfolk

DAY 2 – AIX Nairobi 2019

Thursday 3 October

09h00 to 10h30

IPP Drivers

Chair: Khilna Dodhia, Chief Executive Officer, Kenergy Renewables
Strategies to increase utility-scale generation
  • What is the right IPP tariff?
  • Guarantees and contract terms: what is fair?
  • What risk mitigation is essential and what are the challenges?
  • Examining the progress for FIT and auction mechanisms in the region
  • Is there any justification for feed-in-tariffs in grid connected projects?
  • How to develop large-scale hydropower IPPs
  • Businesss models for privately financed transmission

10h30 to 11h00

LNG2Power

Chair: Jon Marks, Chairman, CbI
The session will examine prospects of small-scale LNG, regional trends and viability of LNG to power projects in Kenya.

13h30 to 15h00

Financing off-grid

Chair: Clifford Aron, Principal, GreenMax Capital Group
Can off-grid solutions become commercially viable across the continent?
  • Off-grid regulatory challenges and transition within the industry
  • Headwinds facing solar home systems
  • Stimulating domestic capital markets and improving access to local finance
  • Developing an off-grid value chain: to achieve viability do investors have to drive a much wider range of businesses to stimulate growth?
  • The role of mobile operators and large corporations in off-grid solar power
  • Scaling-up off-grid: how to attract larger ticket sizes and better terms?
15h00 Coffee and end of AIX

Organisations participating at AIX Nairobi 2019 include:

Utilities, regulators and officials

Energy & Petroleum Regulatory Authority Kenya, EWURA Tanzania, KenGen, Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco), Ministry of Energy (Kenya), Department for International Trade (UK), Department of the Treasury (US)

Power generation

Astonfield Solar, BayWa re, Solar Projects, BioTherm Energy, Circle Gas, Diamond Generating Europe, Engie, GE Power, Globeleq, GridX Africa, Infinity Solar, Jinko Solar, Kenergy Renewables, Kipeto Energy, KTDA Power Company, Ofgen, responsAbility Renewable Energy Holding, Siemens, Symbion Power, Virunga Power, Wartsila, Windlab Developments Kenya

Off-grid

Africa Minigrid Developers Association, Azuri Technologies, BBOXX Capital Kenya, Craft Skills East Africa, CrossBoundary Energy, Energy Access Ventures, EngieEPS, Gogla, GMG Facility, Kivu Green Energy, PowerGen Renewable Energy, SunFunder, SMA Sunbelt Energy

Development finance

African Development Bank Group, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), BIO-Invest, Climate Fund Managers, FMO, GuarantCo, IFC, InfraCo Africa, KfW, Norfund, Power Africa, Proparco, Stoa Energy, USAID

Finance and investment

Actis, African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), AIIM, AP Moller Capital, ARCH Emerging Markets, Camco Clean Energy, Everstrong Capital, Nedbank, Rand Merchant Bank, responsAbility Investments

Professional services

African Energy, Africa Legal Network, Anjarwalla & Khanna, Bowmans, Chatham House, Cross-border Information, DNV GL, Fichtner, Finergreen, GreenMax Capital Group, IED, Iseme Kamau & Maema Advocates, Kenya Oil & Gas Association, Leadwood Energy, Multiconsult, Strathmore University, UL, Worley Parsons

Fairmont The Norfolk hotel

Visit the hotel website

A renowned landmark since opening its doors in 1904, Fairmont The Norfolk, has welcomed royalty, statesmen and stars alike over the years. This celebrated hotel is located in the heart of the Nairobi city and provides a sophisticated, calm retreat from the vibrant downtown district. Fairmont The Norfolk offers the optimal base to explore the town, with easy access to major business districts of Westlands, Gigiri, Upperhill and Downtown.

Booking link for guests