YES! 2022 Post Summit Report

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Beyond Privilege

The YES! mission is to enable the next generation of energy leaders to develop the network, connections and knowledge needed to take on the task of electrifying Africa.

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Post Summit Report

Launch of YES! Youth Energy Summit

Over 50 energy leaders of today and tomorrow met for the launch of the YES! Youth Energy Summit 21-24 June in Brussels.

Beginning on the main stage of the Africa Energy Forum alongside industry heavyweights and 13 African Energy Ministers, the YES! launch had a starring role in the wider 1800-person event.

By the end of the week, we had tales of entrepreneurs attracting vital investment, long sought-after connections made, and heroes met! We had appearances from, among many others, Joseph Nganga (Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet), Habiba Ali (Sosai Renewable Energies), Karen Breytenbach (ex IPP Office), Andy Herscowitz (US DFC), along with students, early career professionals, entrepreneurs and educators from across Africa.

YES! is planning both future events and the launch of a 'beyond privilege' free-toaccess digital platform. In June 2023, YES! will reach its biggest audience with up to 1000 attendees joining us in Nairobi alongside aef. Brussels was the perfect launchpad. See you in Nairobi!

John Whiting

YES! Project Lead

The event being launched alongside aef meant we could have access not only to each other, but to other industry professionals who are leading amazing work in the sector. The programme was also well tailored for participants involved in different areas, but united in wanting to see the energy sector advance in Africa. We met and connected over a number of days which was extremely beneficial for the longer-term networking and potential future collaborations.

Student, University of Cape Town

YES! Attendee breakdown

Attendee by type

Over 50 total attendees

Attendee industry breakdown

45% Stakeholder

21% Student

20% Early Career Professional

11% Entrepreneur Attendee

4% Educator

Thank you so much for everything this week at YES! and aef, and for inviting Student Energy to participate in this exciting launch. I left the conference feeling energised, and with so many new connections – really looking forward to seeing how the YES! Summit shapes up over the next year.

Shakti Ramkumar, Director of Communications, Student Energy

YES! Agenda

Day 1 - Tuesday 21 June

Welcome to aef2022: Registration and YES! Networking Lunch

EnergyNet Welcome

Country Host Remarks

Launching of YES! (Youth Energy Summit)

Africa and Europe – Essential Energy Partners

Forum Sponsor Remarks

aef 2022: Ministerial Roundtable – Africa for Africa Building Energy for the Just Transition – What Does Africa Want?

Day 2 - Wednesday 22 June: What is YES!

Reunited in One Place Celebration

Registration and Networking Coffee

Empowering the Next Generation of Africa Energy Sector Professionals – YES!

Presenting the ambitions, importance and objectives of the YES! programme and hear from former EnergyNet Student Engagement Initiative (ESEI) Students discussing their participation in the programme and the impact it made on their lives.

Africa Talks… Habiba Ali, CEO, Sosai Renewable Energies

Intimate conversation with an inspirational leader in the African Energy Sector.

Refreshments and Chat

Open Session: How can technology empower and create equal opportunity?

What is required when creating a digital platform to empower the next generation of Africa’s energy sector professionals. What tools and resources do you need to develop your career? What issues can a digital platform overcome?

Africa Talks… Karen Breytenbach, Director, Juniper Consulting & Former Head of the IPP Office, South Africa

Intimate conversation with an inspirational leader in the African Energy Sector.

Outside of YES!-specific sessions, participants were encouraged to network and attend sessions within the wider aef.

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YES! Agenda

Day 2 - Wednesday 22 June: What is YES!

Tour of the Exhibition and Networking Lunch

Deloitte Masterclass: Electrifying Africa – how to transform a challenge into business opportunities?

Dare to Dream and Invest in Africa’s Human Capital Now

With 50% of the world’s population under 30 living on the continent by 2050 and Africa’s continued economic development, the youth will be integral to the energy sector's growth. How can investing in Africa’s human capital lift the boat of the whole sector? Could youth-centric metrics be built into energy investments?

Refreshments and Chat

Student Workshop: Perspectives of tomorrow's innovators and energy sector leaders

Refreshments and Chat

Day 3 - Thursday 23 June: Inspire and Challenge

Registration and Networking Coffee

Entrepreneur Workshop: Understanding existing barriers, what technologies and financing initiatives are available and how can entrepreneurs access them.

Refreshments and Chat

Early Career Professionals Workshop: Is Technology breaking down barriers to development, personal growth and crucial grass roots opportunities for early career professionals?

Meet the developers – Networking Lunch

Educators Workshop: Preparing the next generation of African energy professionals – Bridging the gap between educators and companies within the African energy sector.

Closing Session: The Energy Future Starts Now – Nairobi 2023

Networking and Coffee

Outside of YES!-specific sessions, participants were encouraged to network and attend sessions within the wider aef.

Highlights from YES!

YES! – Habiba Ali

Africa Talks… Habiba Ali, CEO, Sosai Renewable Energies

Moderator: Zeddy Bariti, Communications Specialist, KenGen

Intimate conversation with an inspirational leader in the African Energy Sector.

There was a time when Habiba Ali was the only go-to woman in African energy – a trailblazer from a Nigerian perspective, from a gender perspective, and from an entrepreneurship perspective.

As CEO of SOSAI Renewable Energies, her profile has only increased over the years, but fortunately for her, she is now seeing an additional group of young entrepreneurs, and female entrepreneurs, rise to the fore across Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

For Habiba, this has been something of a blessing, freeing up a small amount of time to get back to what she loves best – getting out in the field and seeing the results of her company’s initiatives, projects and solutions; especially in more rural areas.

It is an often humbling and emotional experience to see the upshots of localised upliftment; a value and feeling that stems from her own childhood experiences. Her father promoted a strong sense of self sufficiency and making the most of circumstances. Through watching him farm, fish and hunt to make ends meet at times, this passion to both create opportunity and to give back to others soon manifested in Habiba’s business ambitions.

However, it wasn’t until her fellowship experience that this passion for giving back was understood properly.

“I was taught to understand my own driving force, which wasn’t just my business drive as I had thought, but it was making people happy, and helping others,” she explained.

This epiphany has no doubt catalysed her business ventures ever since, targeting an innovative solution towards segments of society in desperate need of power and upliftment. Habiba complements this core effort with a host of additional responsibilities, often focused on African women in energy, and towards the continent’s youth.

She added: “Encouraging youth is key as it comes with new ideas, and a passion to see and enact change.

“The role of young people is to be agents of change and to tackle challenges. It is their future laid out in front of all of us, and there is no time like now for them to get serious, and start asking questions to the right people.”

Africa’s youth need to look inwardly, like Habiba did, to realise what matters to them and their futures. The next step is having the drive to begin working towards that future.

“There are so many more communities to electrify, and people – especially women – to empower,” Habiba concluded. “I’ve been very lucky in my life to come from where I did to where I am today. I am very fulfilled and continue to enjoy helping other people towards the same level of fulfilment.”

Habiba Ali, CEO, Sosai Renewable Energies talks to Zeddy Bariti, Communications Specialist, KenGen

Highlights from YES!

YES! – Karen Breytenbach

Africa Talks… Karen Breytenbach, Director, Juniper Consulting & Former Head of the IPP Office, South Africa

Moderator: Zeddy Bariti, Communications Specialist, KenGen

The first step for young entrepreneurs and visionaries trying to make a difference in the energy sector, is refusing to say no.

This was the invaluable advice offered by continental trailblazer, Karen Breytenbach who is now Director at Juniper Consulting but perhaps best known for her tireless work elevating private sector influence in South Africa’s energy sector.

This unwillingness to accept defeat is a significant reason why the South African finance landscape is now so much more diverse when it comes to power provision. Entering a domain where Eskom ruled the roost as a state-owned entity, and encouraging a new way of thinking and operating to ensure less risk and more opportunity, was no mean feat.

Success came from simply not accepting “no”. This is a tenet that Karen implores young Africans to adopt now, too.

“If you want to get anywhere just don’t accept being told no,” she said. “People say that word too easily regardless of whether the idea is good or not. It’s always easier not to debate or consider change, but most people will eventually listen to reason if the argument is good.”

The influence of the private sector in South Africa is such that IPPs can now enter the sector and commit to private company ideas and investment prospects. Diversifying the source of power has been – and will continue to be – invaluable to tackling South Africa’s energy challenges.

“It wasn’t an easy road starting this IPP programme venture from nothing, but I can honestly say this was one of the best parts of my time in that office,” Karen explained.

Another highlight put forward refers to the level of social upliftment that has derived from this diversification of the sector. Developing procurement documents in a way that forced private entities to pledge spend to socio-economic development and then entrepreneurial development has ensured a more holistic and sustainable evolution of the industry.

Karen continued: “Often, that money goes into education, or for IPPs to offer bursaries for kids to go to university, or to be offered work experience as graduated engineers. I look forward to seeing how that gets taken forward and improved even further.”

This isn’t to say that students or graduates should wait for these opportunities to fall to them, however. Rather, the emphasis should be on putting hands up and making themselves known, now. In this regard, Karen urges courage, an appetite to voice ideas, and a passion to enact positive change.

She concluded: “It’s about pushing a good idea through without accepting no. People sometimes just need an extra push to listen, so get yourself in a position where your voice counts.”

Karen Breytenbach, Director, Juniper Consulting & Former Head of the IPP Office, South Africa, talks to Zeddy Bariti, Communications Specialist, KenGen

Highlights from YES!

YES! - Entrepreneur Workshop: Understanding existing barriers, what technologies and financing initiatives are available and how can entrepreneurs access them

Today’s young entrepreneurs will assume a critical role in advancing Africa towards net zero.

Indeed, fast forward two decades and it is this generation of investors, politicians and businesspeople who will be responsible for many of the key decisions that will determine the success of energy transition strategies.

We therefore cannot underappreciate the importance of opening up opportunities for young people to learn and build experience in the present. In this session of the Youth Energy Summit at aef 2022, panellists gathered to share their thoughts and experiences around the existing barriers to entry facing young entrepreneurs, and how they can be overcome.

Moderated by venture capitalist Raj Kulasingam, who himself has interests in more than 50 companies, the discussion took a conversational form between the panellists and audience members, many of whom were students and PhD holders from African universities.

Accessing finance became the dominant topic. As someone who had started a business in 2016, Buffalo Energy’s Charlie Troughton initially raised funds through friends and family which opened the door to DFI capital. His business has since gone from strength to strength, the company on the verge of achieving financial close on what will be Africa’s first merchant power station.

“Investors don’t want you to just come with an idea – they want to see you have put in the hard yards,” he said. “We spent six months just scoping out opportunities to put into our pitch deck. You have to talk to people seriously and know what you are talking about.

Show you understand your customers’ and your market’s needs. How does your idea fit, solve problems, and add value?”

Investors are also generally time-poor and faced with bundles of propositions and pitch decks on a daily basis. That first impression, those first few minutes, are key.

“It is all about selling a story,” added Ammarens Bruggenkamp, Manager, Africa Energy at Dutch development bank FMO. “I am excited to be here as these discussions are exactly what investors want to hear. I am a simple financial person who does not have a lot of time – what is your USP, what are you going to achieve? If you can excite us, that goes a long way.”

Highlights from YES!

The discussion soon turned to how young entrepreneurs can make the most of networking, the panellists fielding questions around how to approach different forms of connections. Most shared examples of utilising people they knew to make introductions on their behalf, and in the realm of LinkedIn, the need for subtlety was emphasised.

“Rather than simply hit ‘connect’, follow the person first. Make a comment on an update. Show an interest before putting yourself in front of them,” advised Kulasingam, himself on the receiving end of countless connection requests.

The young audience was also told that entrepreneurship, especially in the early days, is tough. Passion, rather than returns, is the vital currency that should fuel motivation and endeavour.

Olakunle Alao, Energy Researcher & Founder of Kapitly, a blockchain-powered crowdfunding platform designed to provide an alternative channel for private funds to enter the African energy market, explained that his idea came from a desire to make a difference.

“IPPs have transformed investment in Africa since they were introduced, but a huge investment gap remains,” he said. “After completing my PhD, I knew I wanted to do something about it and create a platform that enables investment transparency.”

And there is the capital and investment appetite out there to back passionate entrepreneurs of the future. Today, there are several African unicorn businesses making waves, and in today’s information age, it has never been easier to access advice and connect with people willing to offer their support.

Bruggenkamp concluded by addressing the audience: “You are smart. You are able to learn. Learn how to write a good project plan, learn about the basics of finance, learn everything you can.”

I would personally like to thank you for the amazing opportunity to participate in YES, I feel honoured to have been invited and on top of that be given a speaking opportunity. When I got invited, I had no idea what to expect, but I took a leap of faith and it was the best decision. I am thankful for all the effort, and time you all made to prepare a well thought our programme for us, with amazing speakers. I was fully engaged in all the sessions and I personally feel like the sky is the limit, in terms of my career growth in the energy space. Attending the YES/ aef, allowed me to network with peers and experts I would have never met elsewhere. I would like to volunteer myself to assist or participate in any future EnergyNet or aef/ YES events in future. I truly believe in and support the work you are doing for the youth in Africa.

Noella Molefe, Senior Advisor Climate Change & Sustainable Development | Just Energy Transition Office, ESKOM

Andy Herscowitz, Chief Development Officer, of DFC joins the Entrepreneur Workshop alongside representatives from Dentons, Kapitly, Tatanga Energy, Sunflower Energy Africa, Africa Energy, FMO and Craftskills Wind Energy International

YES! Participant Feedback

The Youth Energy Summit (YES!) 2022 was, in one word, scintillating. From the sessions to the speakers to the attendees, every element of the Summit connected and contributed greatly to its success. And the organizers were more than wonderful. I'd say it exceeded my expectations for a first-time event.

Student, University of Nigeria

I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to be part of YES!. The sessions were very interesting and I really enjoyed the entrepreneur and the educators' workshops.

Student, University of Cape Town

Well organized, a great chance to network and insightful information.

Early Career Professional, J.P. Morgan

The speakers, moderators and attendees involved for the launch were very knowledgeable, issues discussed were related to the youth and preparation of the youth for the future of work in the energy sector.

Early Career Professional, KenGen

The launch was a success. I have gained a lot of knowledge about various aspects of the industry. It was very interactive. It also allowed me to continuously be engaged while providing me with a chance to connect with amazing individuals. It was definitely worthwhile and I'm honoured to have been part of this amazing initiative created for the youth!

Early Career Professional, IPP Office

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YES! Participant Feedback

The launch was a huge success. I truly enjoyed how we got the to engage with different stakeholders as well as with one another as young people, imparting invaluable knowledge that I’m confident will be of great benefit moving forward in the in the progression and development of my career.

Early Career Professional, IPP Office

The event was well organised, the pavilion was very well designed and put together and the general discussions were interesting.

Student, University of Cape Town

I saw all the effort put into the plan to make it work from the dedication of the team.

Entrepreneur, Nigeria

Everything went smoothly and I really enjoyed the sessions.

Student, University of Cape Town