About The Webinar
The Black Energy Professionals Association (BEPA) in partnership with Enlit Africa will be hosting a Webinar on Thursday, 21 April 2022 under the theme “Energy Transition: Is the South African energy sector for a Just Transition to a low carbon, climate resilient and sustainable society?”
On 2 November 2021, the President of South Africa, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa announced a Political Declaration with the governments of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the European Union may be regarded as an important breakthrough in this effort. Through this partnership, an initial amount of $8.5 billion (R131 Billion) will be mobilised over the next three to five years to support South Africa’s just transition to a low-carbon, climate resilient future.
Why?
The global energy landscape anticipates an enormous change when compared to the previous hundred years. As the world’s energy sector is moving away from fossil fuels and gravitating towards renewable energy sources, this may be challenging for industrial companies in terms of addressing this transition in transformative ways. In South Africa, seemingly the coal to clean journey could deliver more than 250 000 jobs and more than $10 billion gross value added to the economy over 25 years provided an ambitious green recovery is to be pursued.
However, the transition may not be as smooth as it sounds! Developing economies will require significant investment in alternative energy sources and other infrastructure. This also requires considerable support for workers and communities throughout the coal value chain who may lose their jobs and livelihoods. While the energy transition is necessary for reducing global carbon emissions, the transition should also be fair and just. A just transition requires finance and support from wealthier nations to enable low- and-medium income countries to protect employment and to promote development.
South Africa has committed to ambitious emission reduction targets. Achieving these targets will require the transformation of the country’s energy system at an unprecedented speed and scale. Nonetheless, the country’s ability to do so will be determined by the extent of support that we receive from developed economies.
The Webinar
The energy sector continues to thrive in South Africa and plays a significant role in growing the economy. There is poor participation by black professionals, especially black women at a strategic and commercial level. BEPA was established to address the aspirations of black industry participants. BEPA represents the specific interest of black people with the aim to achieve transparent broad participation in all the energy sectors. BEPA actively tries to create solutions and solve problems facing black professionals who are either involved or keen to play a role in the sector. Given the aforementioned; the objective of the webinar is to, among others, reflect on energy transition and facilitate a conversation amongst leaders in the energy industry as their share their knowledge and answer the question: “Is the South African energy sector for a Just Transition to a low carbon, climate resilient and sustainable society?”
Moderator: Nkosinathi Hlophe
Director at Energy Generation Africa
Nkosinathi’s personal and career experiences have led him to pursue his life-long goal of leveraging entrepreneurship as a tool for sustainable development across sub-Saharan Africa. Born and bred in the South African township of Soweto, his life is testament to how an enabling socioeconomic environment can unleash the potential of young people. His current focus is on building enduring business brands designed to meet the continent’s demand for secure, affordable and sustainable energy.
His areas of expertise cover finance, strategy, venture building and ethical leadership. He is a CA (SA) registered with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and member of the Institute of Directors Southern Africa. He is currently pursuing his Master’s in Energy Leadership at Wits Business School and has written articles in multiple publications commenting on developments in the energy industry.
Nathi is Managing Director of Energy Generation Africa, a fast-growing solar PV and battery energy storage equipment supplier. He’s also Director of Steam Generation Africa, a turnkey boiler plant EPCM. He additionally serves as Vice President for the Energy Service Company Association of South Africa (EASA), lead board member of AB Inbev’s R300m Thrive Private Equity Fund and member of Black Energy Professionals Association (BEPA) renewable energy and oil & gas working groups.
Speaker: Dr Lebo Mphahlele-Ntsasa, Executive Director at Amperion Energy, BEPA Member
Dr Lebo Mphahlele-Ntsasa is Executive Director at Amperion Energy and oversees the overall planning and end-to-end delivery of solar PV projects.
Lebo spent the first seven years of her career within the energy and petrochemical industry in asolburg and Johannesburg. During this period she was involved in a wide range of areas including research and development, logistics and strategic planning. She then spent two years in management consultant and business services.
Lebo has extensive Senior Management experience within strategic management in both private and public sector. Her qualifications include a B.Sc Chemistry degree from UCT, MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand and Doctor of Business Leadership from UNISA.
Speaker: Ms. Nqobile Xaba
Researcher KESA, MISTRA
Nqobile Xaba is a researcher in the Knowledge Economy and Scientific Advancement faculty at the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA). Her work focuses on the just transition in South Africa, and the broader climate change and environmental issues, and platinum group metals (PGM) beneficiation through hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Prior to joining MISTRA, she was a lecturer at TUT. She previously worked as doctoral candidate and postdoctoral fellow at the at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) focusing on the development of materials for fuel cells electrocatalysts and rechargeable battery applications.
She holds a BSc degree in pure and applied chemistry (cum laude) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), and BSc honours degree in chemistry, an MSc degree in chemical engineering science from the University of North-West (NWU), and a PhD in chemistry from the University of the Western Cape (UWC). She has published her work on renowned scientific journal articles, has contributed book chapters and opinion editorial articles on leading South African publications. She is the editor and contributing author to the MISTRA volume A Just Transition to a Low Carbon Future in South Africa.