Light at the end of the tunnel

Every South African is aware of the impact which the ongoing power interuptions have had on daily life, international investor perceptions and most pressingly - for the nation as a whole - business productivity. South Africa's economy has for years been dynamic, thriving and consistently growing. It cannot be allowed to stall; the vital progress made since 1994 must continue to flourish.

It is for this reason that Topco Media has engineered a groundbreaking meeting of the most committed minds in business, with the aim of assisting the government and Eskom to combat the energy crisis effectively.

This summit is possibly the most important meeting that senior leaders in both the private and public sectors will attend in their working lives; a gathering of expertise and commitment, determined to stabilise the present and power the future.

The summit is aimed at creating viable solutions to assist Eskom and all stakeholders to quickly minimise the impact of the current power challenges. Initiated by Topco Media, the summit will seek to cement private/public partnerships, to help manage this emergency now and in the future.

It was not long ago that Bongani Nqwababa, Financial Director of Eskom, said: “South African business cannot plan or implement any major new energy-consuming projects until 2013.”

This statement posed an unthinkable scenario that could derail not only the South African economy but the society that is dependent on it.

However, since then, and in the spirit that makes South Africa a “can do” nation, business and industry entities at all levels have complied with Eskom's requested 10% reduction in power usage – meaning that recently the country entered its
“third consecutive week without any load shedding.” *

Eskom Chief Executive Officer Jacob Maroga has praised the actions of those at all levels of society as a testament to the character of the country. "I think for me, this says something about our country, it says something about the quality of leadership we have, it says something about our ability as a country to deal with whatever challenges comes our way.” **

While Eskom has activated a dedicated recovery team targeted at addressing six specific areas of the current situation, Topco Media's Africa Energy Summit will aim to generate further, even more ingenious solutions. It will examine expectations on the business community at large, in terms of responsible power usage, as well as the new regulations being formulated by the DME. Delegates will work out how to implement long-term, cost effective and sustainable energy efficiency strategies, while mindful of environmental and safety compliancy aspects.

Topco Media will record, transcribe, edit and compile a document reflecting the formal addresses, discussions and recommendations of delegates to the Africa Energy Summit, which will be published as a White Paper and presented to Government and all key stakeholders, as a timeous call to action. Topco Media will make selective use of this material in the various annual business-to-business publications which it publishes.

This is a summit out of the ordinary, aimed at generating new solutions to a pressing situation that - for all our interests - can and must be quickly minimised, managed and ultimately, curtailed.

We hope you will diarise this historic date for South African business, to guarantee your availability.

Date: 23 & 24 April 2008
Venue: The Forum | The Campus, Bryanston, Johannesburg

For more information on the speakers, topics or venue of the Africa Energy Summit, please visit www.topco.co.za

Alternatively, contact Stephen Paxton on (+27) 021 441 2500 or

* http://www.themercury.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=vn20080220040448264C346440

** http://allafrica.com/stories/200802190088.html