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So says Daniel Swanepoel, lead facilitator of the upcoming Power & Utilities Management School that is taking place from 11-14 May at African Utility Week in Cape Town in May.
The inaugural Power & Utilities Management School is a unique and specialised three-day course for power and utility personnel at all levels of management who want to develop a broad knowledge of the power sector, focusing on reducing risk, mitigating challenges and maximising opportunities.
Skills gap in the sector
It will also focus on addressing the skills gaps in the sector. Daniel Swanepoel explains: “we need our tertiary education institutions to certainly focus more on technical skills development and with specific focus on the power and utility sectors. This is our future. And this is a reality for the entire Sub Saharan Africa. At this point the utility sector is generally linked to governments and this often leads to political appointments being made whereas people with strategic outlook and the necessary skills set will be overlooked. In the developed world they have learned already that within the utility sector we have to allow public private partnerships in order to be successful. It is the combination that works.”
He continues: “at the same time we also lack the skills of presenting a good business case when it comes to putting together a business plan and related documentation for finance. This is more a strategic focus and companies often fail to achieve success in this space.”
Complete overview of sector
Daniel Swanepoel has a solid background in corporate banking, is specialised in leadership and management development training in the energy sector on the African continent and consults on power projects. “We have worked hard to put together a programme that will speak to both junior and middle management delegates”, he says.
At the Power & Utilities Management School he explains that “our objective is to present the basic framework to understand how a power management project is put together. At the same time we want to provide our delegates with a complete overview of the sector at the present moment and give them an opportunity to discuss with others. In short we would like the power management school to be a brainstorming session where we look at strategy planning, government liaison, project planning, project management and then conclude with successful financial management of projects.”
Taking place alongside African Utility Week, the course allows participants to attend keynote sessions, explore the exhibition floor, as well as meet and network extensively with the many delegates and esteemed speakers at the conference, while gaining in-depth, practical knowledge and implementation strategies.
The Power & Utilities Management School is produced by the recently launched Spintelligent Training Academy, which is part of Spintelligent Pty, the leading Cape Town-based publisher, trade exhibition and conference organiser. The Academy was established to address learning and development needs in the energy, utilities and mining industries on the African continent.
Spintelligent Training Academy’s other upcoming courses include:
• Smart Meter Economics, Accra, 9-11 April 2015
• Electricity Market Pricing and Trading, Cape Town, 13-14 April 2015
• Public Private Partnerships: Understanding the Regulatory Framework, Cape Town, 20-21 April 2015
• Economics of Public Private Partnerships, Cape Town, 22-24 April 2015
• Contracting for EPC Contracts and Services in the Energy Industry, Lagos, 27-29 April 2015
• Grid Shock Preparedness and Blackout Management, Nairobi, Kenya, 18-19 May 2015
Spintelligent (spintelligent.com) is the African office of Clarion Events Ltd which is based in the UK. It has become recognised as a highly successful African event organiser and publisher, with flagship projects in the power, mining, agriculture, defence and education sectors such as African Utility Week, West African Power Industry Convention, African EduWeek, Agritech-Expo, Land Forces Africa and the iPAD infrastructure and mining event franchise.
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annemarie.roodbol[.]spintelligent.com 
