About the Event

Introduction | Why attend| Audience profile| WAPIC

Introduction

With around 140 million people, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, and potentially one of the fastest growing countries in the world. Seen in the light of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua commitment to achieving Nigeria’s 2020 vision: a bold policy to make Nigeria one of the world’s biggest economies by 2020, we believe this would be a necessary platform for discussion and finding solutions together. To encourage economic growth, President Yar’Adua wishes to increase the linkages between public and private sectors so as to leverage the resources of the private sector for development purposes.

Since one of the priorities for development include a national energy strategy to ensure energy supply throughout the country; developing the solid minerals sector and the establishment of a National Development Plan with Regional Master Plans for each state to ensure long-term economic growth and development, iPAD comes at a time when serious solutions must be found and implemented. President Yar’Adua said that businesses need to drive the infrastructure investment process to meet Nigeria’s infrastructure financing deficit which is estimated at $6-9 billion per year over the next two years.

It is in this context that iPAD West Africa comes to Nigeria. This 3-day event provides a forum for government and business to meet and explore opportunities for developing and investing in the infrastructure of Nigeria and greater West Africa.

Why attend?

Gain key information on infrastructure projects and the right contacts in government at federal, state and local level, in the public and private sectors.

Attendees will:

Choose from a multi-track programme offering inside expertise
Gain balanced perspectives – both from the public and private sectors
Learn through strategic keynote addresses focusing on the state of the industry as well as emerging trends.
Discover and evaluate products and services to help make sound business decisions in a vendor neutral environment

Audience profile/Who should attend?

Government officials
Government representatives in infrastructure departments
Senior executives in relevant sectors
Chambers of commerce and industry
Chambers of mines
Investment and promotion agencies
Consultants
NGOs
Funding agencies and managers
Investors/financial houses
Businessmen looking for joint venture opportunities
Financiers of infrastructure projects
Manufacturers and suppliers
Regulators
Contractors
Large industrial users
City planners
Engineers
Customer service managers
Business development managers
Beneficiation officers
Executives responsible for building and construction projects
Exploration companies
Tax specialists
Senior managers from utilities
Water and electricity utilities media
Financial institutions operating in Africa and other institutions interested in expanding operations in Africa
Businesses involved in infrastructure, manufacturing, financial services and related activities
Multilateral institutions, the United Nations, World Bank Group and African regional integration groupings (NEPAD, AU, COMESA, SADC, CEMAC, WAEMU, ECOWAS)

1st West African Water Summit

Water is so vital a resource that a country’s water infrastructure alone may provide a measure of that country’s development. The West African Water Summit will see utilities, senior government and state representatives, NGO’s, business and investors converge to discover and debate solutions and strategies for the successful provision of water. Both the Nigerian and regional context will be scrutinised.

Crucial issues that will be covered at the West African Water Summit include financial fundamentals of water utilities, with a focus on privatization. Key drives behind the water market will be touched on, such as: water quality/scarcity; reticulation; water conditioning/treatment; funding; public awareness and enforcement of utility bill payments; new policies (ie, privatisation, billing) and human resources. Trends and development in the regional water sector will be explored, such as: PPPs and BOTs; advancement in automation technology and regulation and reform.

The West African Water Summit will cover technical and executive aspects of water and sanitation infrastructure in both urban and rural environments. Case studies will provide the opportunity to learn from the experiences of others, and expert opinion will deliver informed guidance to decision makers. Topics at the summit will include the planning and maintenance of water assets — from dams, pipes all the way to the end user, socio-environmental considerations, private sector participation, leakage management, and revenue collection. The West African Water Summit also features a mini-workshop focussing on technologies for water utilities revenue protection, billing and CRM

WAPIC

The 5th West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC) is part of iPAD West Africa and encourages regional cooperation through a unique forum highlighting topics on generation, transmission and distribution as well as the development and reform of the West African power sector. Traditionally, the event focuses on finance, regional cooperation, alternative and renewable energy sources, integrated energy plans, demand side management, privatisation and government policies, and ways of turning environmental challenges into profitable solutions for the power sector.

The World Bank has aligned with the Nigerian government in its goal to become one of the top twenty economies by 2020. Without a reliable power supply, however, Nigeria’s quest for development would be unrealistic, as the cost of doing business would be quite prohibitive. The government wants to maximise reforms in the power sector through institutions and the Abuja power project is part of its National Energy Development Project to boost power supply.

WAPIC has a strong track record in Nigeria, having been hosted in Abuja in 2004 (inaugural WAPIC event) and 2007(4th edition). WAPIC was hosted by NEPA and PHCN in 2004 and 2007 respectively and enjoyed the support and participation of the following organizations:

Ministry of Power and Steel (2007)
National Energy Regulator of Nigeria (NERC)
Rural Electrification Agency (REA)
West African Power Pool (WAPP)
African Forum for Utility Regulators (AFUR)
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

In 2007, a pre-conference seminar was held on Electricity Regulation in West Africa with sessions on practices and projects; the Enugu update and a regional regulator’s panel. Keynote speakers in the programme included:

Engr. Dr Joseph Makoju, Special advisor to the President on electric power
Theo Sackey, Infrastructure Industry Specialist, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Lagos, Nigeria
Alh.Shu’aibu Maigida, Co-ordinator (Liaison Unit) , Power Holding Company of Nigeria(PHCN), Nigeria
Babatunde Adeyemo, Director, West African Power Pool (WAPP), Benin
Prof O. C. Iloeje, Commissioner, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Nigeria
Engr. Uzoma Achinanya, Market Operator, Power Holding Company of Nigeria, (PHCN) Nigeria
Bart Nnaji, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Geometric Power Limited (GPL)
Engr. J. A. Olutu, Chief Executive Officer, Niger Delta Power Holding Company(NDPH), Nigeria
Sam I. Gekpe, Managing Director, Rural Electrification Agency(REA), Nigeria
Alexander Osei, Divisional Manager MIS, Electricity Company of Ghana, Ghana

The private sector will drive growth in Africa and, to help it do so, governments should be promoting an enabling environment. This means listening to the private sector, lending directly to private interests and helping governments reform their legal and regulatory frameworks to strengthen governance and accountability.

The full spectrum of generation, transmission and distribution will be covered within the context of regional challenges and cooperation. This international event provides the ideal platform for the West African region to work towards sustainable development and in turn attract future investment and business opportunities.