The 18th annual, multi-award winning African Utility Week, taking place from 15 to 17 May in Cape Town, South Africa, will, amongst other topics, strongly focus on water challenges on the continent.
Furthermore, issues like investment needed in water solutions by the public and private sectors to enable universal access, water security, and resilient societies will be discussed.
The conference will also showcase how partnership, financial models and the latest technological advances can make the greatest impact in meeting Africa’s water demand.
Paul Yilla, Guest Research Scholar (Water Programme), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria, says the current water shortage in Cape Town could happen anywhere.
“As populations in cities grow and economic activities increase, the demand for water will continue to increase. If we now factor in climate change and extreme weather events, such as prolonged heat waves and droughts, all of this will put additional pressure on water availability both on the supply and demand side,” said Yilla.
He further added that users worldwide should take the threats posed by climate change much more seriously and should look for additional resources that will adapt and cope with water security challenges, which will be worsened by climate change.
Read the full interview with Paul Yilla here.
African Utility Week’s programme topics and highlights include:
• World Bank Report on latest status on water infrastructure projects
• What is the impact of conflict and governance towards meeting Africa’s water demand?
• Exploring the impact of climate change on Africa’s water demand
• Panel discussion: How is the City of Cape Town working towards shifting cultural behaviour of water consumption?
• Roundtable with country spotlight sessions, sharing investment opportunities and projects that are making the greatest difference to Africa’s water sector. Countries in focus will be Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Egypt, Botswana, Namibia, Ghana, Singapore, Dubai, Denmark, Singapore and Israel.
• A debate on the pricing methods for the continent’s water
• Panel discussion: What does a bankable project look like in the water sector?
Industry support
African Utility Week has already secured important industry support including Landis+Gyr, Hexing and Eskom Rotek Industries as platinum sponsors and SAP, Sensus, Utility Systems and Aberdare as gold sponsors.
Important information:
Conference and expo: 15 to 17 May 2018
Awards gala dinner: 16 May 2018
Site visits: 18 May 2018
Location: CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa
Keep track of what’s happening on the conference’s website, Twitter, LinkedIn, and by following the #AUW2018 hashtag.
