Belinda is the Senior Technical Support Officer at the Electrical Department for Swartland Municipality and is the President of the Southern Africa Revenue Protection Association (SARPA). She is an experienced Revenue Protection Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the electrical industry. She is skilled in customer service, data analysis, credit control and management, and has strong public relationship, investigative and negotiation skills.

Mabuto fulfills many roles in her daily life including:

• South African Managing Director of Projects Development: Genesis Energy Group (UK Based organization operating across Africa), 
• BRICS Member - Energy and Green Economy 
• Chairperson – South African Institute of Electrical Engineers Entrepreneurship and Innovation 
• Chairperson and Board member of World Business Angel Investment Forum- Global Startup 
• Founding Member of World Women Empowerment  ( Estonian Based)
• Advisor & Member Women in Electricity
• International Accredited Angel Investor 
• Executive Director of Africa Institute of Small Scale Mining

Dolapo is one of the leading lawyers in Nigeria’s Power sector with extensive experience advising clients in the private sector, government agencies and regulators on a wide range of complex transactions.

Her transactional experience includes advising the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on the 213 billion naira Intervention Fund for the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry; and advising clients on the privatization of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) assets in the Nigerian Power sector.

Dolapo played an active role as a member of a core negotiating team nominated by the Disco Roundtable and Investor Group (pressure groups created by bidders in the privatized Distribution Companies and the NIPP assets) to negotiate with the Nigerian Government and Regulators on issues common to them. She led a team working with the Nigerian Energy Support Programme and NERC on the recently released regulation for mini-grids; and is currently advising the Lagos State Government on the Light Up Lagos project to facilitate the delivery of 3000MW to Lagos State through embedded power generation.

As part of our monthly focus on Women in Energy, we speak to Meike Wetsch, Unit Head: Capital & Funding Office, Coega Development Corporation.

We talk about belly dancing, Catherine the Great, Angela Merkel and the importance of diversity of age, race, gender in the world and the energ sector.

Finance, investment and strategy is your starting point for delivering on Africa's commitment to economic growth, energy access, climate change mitigation and more. In this session panellists will address the current financial landscape and discuss how to deliver on the energy transition the continent needs.

Discussion points

• Where will the necessary funding come from?
• How do we make Africa’s internal financial markets more robust and shock-resistant?
• What can governments do to incentivise investment that will facilitate the energy transition?
• Of the 5Ds of the energy transition (Decarbonisation, Decentralisation, Democratisation, Digitalisation, Deregulation), which needs most investment?

Moderator

Claire Volkwyn, Head of content, Enlit Africa, South Africa

Speakers

• Gillian-Alexandre Huart, CEO, ENGIE Energy Access, Belgium
• Mandy Rambharos, GM: Just Energy Transition Office, Eskom, South Africa
• Ashish Khanna, Practice Manager: West and Central Africa, World Bank, USA
• Ashish Kumar, Head of Innovation, Shell Foundation, United Kingdom
• Emeka Wosu, Business Development Director - Africa, Longi Solar, South Africa

As part of our monthly focus on Women in Energy, we speak this month to Isabel Fick, GM System Operator, Eskom.

We talk about the importance of the system operator, opportunities for women in engineering and gaining a bit of insight into the woman behind the job.

Among the things we spoke about were the plans the City has for the integration of small scale embedded generation, what it would take to ensure energy security for Cape Town and what the priorities are for the remainder of 2021.

Speakers:

Claire Volkwyn, head of content, Enlit Africa

Kadri Nassiep, Executive Director Energy and Climate Change, City of Cape Town

In the second in our series focussing on that event, we share some insights from Christoph Reimnitz, Chairman of the gas to power working group for the World LPG Association.

Chris shares with us some of his thoughts on why LPG may be a good alternative fuel source in Africa's energy transition.

What, though are the key steps Africa must take to prepare to play a critical role in the global hydrogen value chain? And, more importantly, what can and must we do, to proactively write our own role rather than have it imposed on us?

Discussion points 

• The current state of play for development of hydrogen across Africa 
• Exploring hydrogen development 
• The business case; and applications
• What are the imperatives that make Africa the right space to develop hydrogen technologies?

Moderator: Hendrik Malan, CEO – Africa, Frost & Sullivan, South Africa

Speakers

• Ian Fraser, Chairman, African Hydrogen Partnership, South Africa
• Monica Swanson, Business Manager Internal Hydrogen Projects, Port of Rotterdam Authority, The Netherlands 
• Vincenzo Giordano, Director: Sustainability Solutions for Cities and Communities, ENGIE Impact

Discussion points on lessons learned

• The business model and what this means for future projects 
• Factors that need to be considered when national grid meets minigrid 
• Is this kind of project scalable? 
• How much influence did productive use of energy have on the success of the project? 
• Building a tariff structure that works for everyone.

Moderator: James Sherwood, Principal, Electricity Practice, Rocky Mountain Institute

Speakers: 

• Tobi Busari, Team Lead: Embedded Generation and Renewable Energy, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, Nigeria 
• Anayo Nas, CEO, Nayo Tropical Technology, Nigeria 
• Albert Butare, CEO, Africa Energy Service Group, Rwanda 
• David Riposo, Energy Access Officer, Power Africa, USA

Discussion points

• Where will the necessary funding come from?
• How do we make Africa’s internal financial markets more robust and shock resistant?
• What can governments do to incentivise investment that will facilitate the energy transition?
• Of the 5Ds of the energy transition (Decarbonisation, Decentralisation, Democratisation, Digitalisation, Deregulation), which needs most investment?
• Can the European strategy of “do no harm” be useful to African governments working out their own climate change policies right now?

Moderator: Claire Volkwyn, Head of content, Enlit Africa, South Africa

Speakers

• Gillian-Alexandre Huart, CEO, ENGIE Energy Access, Belgium
• Mandy Rambharos, GM: Just Enerlpggy Transition Office, Eskom, South Africa
• Ashish Khanna, Practice Manager: West and Central Africa, World Bank, USA
• Ashish Kumar, Head of Innovation, Shell Foundation, United Kingdom
• Emeka Wosu, Business Development Director - Africa, Longi Solar, South Africa

The aim is to accelerate access to energy (SDG7) through collaboration on activities which address market barriers and benefit from a collective approach.

“Collaboration will help in providing energy access to currently unserved populations and is needed to protect and expand the impact achieved to date by the sector,” said Wim Jonker Klunne, HSFG coordinator.

“We have identified a number of key priority areas where its members can work together to amplify impact.”

She shared with us the mandate of her office, the opportunities and challenges the energy transition presents, as well as some more personal insight into the woman behind the title.