By TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG– PREPARATIONS for the 2017 African Utility Week are gathering momentum with global audit firm, KPMG, confirming diamond sponsorship of the event set for Cape Town in May.
This is part of the firm’s strategy to execute its mastery from an advisory perspective.
Apart from the wealth of knowledge that the firm has to offer to African Utility Week’s attendees, KPMG executives are looking forward to exercising their commitment to helping organisations with robust, sustainable and flexible strategies.
This is in addition to models that can adapt quickly in a dynamically unfolding future.
Ahead of the event in South Africa, the experts pointed out energy security remained elusive on the African continent.
The International Energy Agency estimates two thirds of people in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to electricity, which translates into 620 million people on the continent without electricity.
For the lucky who have, the supply is unreliable and very expensive compared to world standards.
“There is an emerging trend in the sector,” says Ahmed Jaffer, Chairman of KPMG in South Africa and the Head of Power and Utilities.
He says businesses and communities are also showing interest in becoming less dependent on the national grids.
“In rural Africa, especially, the economics of expanding the national grids do not make sense, hence there is a significant trend towards mini-grids and other off-grid solutions,” says Jaffer.
Power and utilities companies globally face the triple challenge of improving environmental performance, keeping consumers’ costs down and maintaining system reliability.
Accordingly, KPMG has developed a long-term strategy to investing in innovation, thought leadership and refreshing existing methodologies effective over the years.
De Buys Scott, Senior Partner in Deal Advisory and Head of Infrastructure Advisory at KPMG in South Africa, adds that gravitating towards off-grid and smaller solutions in terms generation projects is a wise solution for the African continent.
“These solutions are cost-effective as the costs that are invested in the general infrastructure of generation projects are eliminated in smaller scale solutions,” says De Buys.
– Guardian