Conference Speakers
Samer Zawaydeh
President – Association of Energy Engineers
SAMER ZAWAYDEH, M.S.C., C.R.M., R.E.P., is an Independent Engineer internationally recognized energy expert with 26 years of management experience around the world. He worked in the extra heavy steel structure fabrication of power stations and refineries worldwide and on developing several wind energy projects in Jordan. He is working on Jordan Renewables Readiness Assessment (2020-2025) with IRENA, Jordan Climate Change Stakeholders Dialogue to initiate the carbon market and finance, energy efficiency, renewable energy, utility scale Wind and PV projects development with and he is the first consultant that started implementing Jordan Green Building Guide rating system 2015. He is also a lecturer at the Al Hussein Technical University.
He worked on stakeholder management with several private and international donor agencies like USAID, GIZ, EU, MEDA on conducting energy audits for buildings, proposing energy conservation methods and implementing energy retrofit projects and development of the Photovoltaic Center of Excellence for technicians training in Mafraq-Jordan with sector skills committee development models. And he conducted several in depth studies on energy, water sectors, green economy and PV Sector. He developed training programs and trained over 17,000 people since 2012 in renewable energy and energy efficiency regulatory framework, REEE Economics, green buildings, thermal insulation, project development, best practices, carbon emissions and climate change.
He is a public speaker and a certified Carbon Reduction Manager (CRM), Renewable Energy Professional (REP), and holds several other certifications. He continuously works on energy awareness, capacity building and developing clean energy projects that are secure and affordable. Committed volunteer to the development of the energy sector locally, regionally and around the world through the Association of Energy Engineers network. He served as AEE President Elect (2019), AEE Secretary (2018-2019), CRM Board Chairman (2018-Present), President of the Jordan Energy Chapter (2015-2017), Secretary of the Jordan Energy Chapter (2017-2019), International Certification Board (2016-Present), Assistant Director for International Membership Development for Special Projects (2014-Present), Student Chapters Mentor (2014-Present), Assistant Director for International Membership Development for Middle East (2012-2014).
Steven Fawkes
Managing Partner Energy Pro
Dr. Steve Fawkes has over 30 years experience in energy efficiency including delivering large energy management programmes for corporates and the public sector, co-founding three energy service companies, implementing innovative energy services transactions, and advising governments.
He founded EnergyPro in 2012 to accelerate investment into energy productivity and the company advises corporates, investors, governments and multi-lateral institutions on energy services and investing in energy efficiency. EPAL, EnergyPro’s JV with the Indian super-ESCo EESL has invested more than £60m into UK energy efficiency companies since March 2017 and in 2020 was named as the fastest growing Indian owned company in the UK. He has received awards from the Energy Institute, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy and the India Business Group. He has written more than 350 publications on energy efficiency including three books and a publishes an influential blog at www.onlyelevenpercent.com
Nabila Alibhai
Founder and Director – inCOMMONS/limeSHIFT
Nabila Alibhai is a renowned innovator in the areas of aesthetics, health, leadership, lifeskills and diversity. She has worked with groups that range from local activists to mid-high level management in the private and public sector. Nabila is also an experienced facilitator having worked with programs like MIT’s leadership course for the SPURS Fellows, young artists at the Artists as Citizen Conference at The Julliard School and peace-builders at the Agenda for Reconciliation Conference – Switzerland. She is the founder and director of inCOMMONS that offers the knowledge, skills, tools and processes to create the conditions that address wellbeing, build resilience and nurture empathic leadership. She is also a co-founder at limeSHIFT, a platform that matches artists to innovative and socially responsible organizations to activate communities to be their most creative, productive and connected.
She specializes in training, advisory services, strategic planning and the development of public spaces both historic and contemporary. Nabila is an MPH Yale University, an MIT SPURS Fellow, has been awarded Top 30 Quartz Africa Innovator 2018 and is an acclaimed TED Speaker: TED Global 2017. She is very passionate about youth transformation and mentorship and creating global impact.
Sylvester Makaka
Executive Officer – Senior Energy Advisor at KAM
Sylvester Makaka is an Executive Officer – Senior Energy Advisor at The Kenya Association of Manufacturers. He carries with him vast industrial experience in the area of industrial power and energy systems as well as energy management. His experience in the areas of energy and management advisory services spans over 25 years in the manufacturing sector across diverse industries and economies. From a professional perspective Sylvester has made great strides and is a Certified Energy Manager with vast experience in industrial energy efficiency programs and Energy Advocacy, power tariffs and Power Purchase Agreement negotiations, as well as sustainable energy programmes advisory and development. Sylvester is currently working on various industrial energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy advocacy and circular economy programs at Kenya Association of Manufacturers. He has a special interest in advocacy, strategy and policy formulation touching on energy pricing, renewable energy and circular economy.
Jenny Fletcher
CO-Founder and CEO Ariya Finergy
Jenny is the Co Founder and CEO of Ariya Finergy Holdings Ltd and Ariya Capital Group. She is currently a board member of the Woman Corporate Director’s Kenya Chapter, Walvis Bay Power Plant and Walvis Gas Port and the Ariya companies. She has lead Ariya Finergy to becoming a leader in the B2B clean energy and financing space in East Africa. She spearheaded the development of the first major wind farm in Kenya to reach financial close and is a leader who has successfully grown businesses and developed and implemented a myriad of projects in multiple countries, mainly in Africa.
Ariya Finergy Holding Ltd is a leading financing and clean energy company in East Africa that provides its customers with fully serviced clean energy solutions for their businesses. Ariya Capital Group is currently developing and/or acquiring 2+ GW’s of clean and renewable power in Africa. These developments and acquisitions include solar, wind and gas.
Amar Inamdar
Managing Director KawiSafi Ventures
Amar is an investor, advisor and entrepreneur from East Africa and brings over 20 years execution experience of building markets and businesses in emerging economies.
He managed a global investment portfolio of high-risk, high-impact projects for 10 years at the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank before joining the new business team at Royal Dutch Shell to drive growth in domestic African energy markets. He graduated from the University of Oxford and has a PhD from the University of Cambridge. In 2017 Amar spoke at TEDGlobal in Arusha, Tanzania about the thrilling potential for off-grid solar energy in Africa.
Troy Barrie
Chief Technical Officer Ariya Finergy
Troy Barrie is the Chief Technical Officer of Ariya Finergy, a Nairobi based Financing and Engineering firm that develops and builds renewable energy and power stabilisation projects. Ariya Finergy has developed 20 solar PV projects in Kenya including unique power stabilisation projects that solve grid stability problems for entire industrial facilities.
Troy is an energy storage and renewable energy integration specialist; providing solutions to industries and utilities by integrating reliable technology solutions. He has over 10 years global experience in manufacturing, commercial product deployment and customer relations. His interests and focus are energy storage, smart controllers and distributed generation as a means of ensuring utility power quality.
Chris Mbori
Founding Director of IEPA, CEM & CEP Trainer
Chris Mbori is a Founding Director of the Institute of Energy Professionals Africa (IEPA), a non-profit company called to service by the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) to service the Sub-Saharan Africa region for AEE. Chris is an international accredited Certified Energy Manager (CEM) and Certified Energy Auditor (CEA) trainer. He has vast knowledge and experience, and holds a B.Sc Chemical and Process Engineering, MSc Energy Management, CEM®, CMVP®, CEA®, CWEP®, REP®, CPCF®, CRM®, Lead ISO50001 Auditor.
He trains for IEPA the CEM, CEA, Basic Principles of Energy (BPE), Energy Efficiency in Buildings (EEB), Business Case for Energy Projects (BCEP), Managing Energy Projects (MEP), Introduction to Energy Management Training (IEMT) and the Energy Audit Technician qualification of the QCTO.
Chris is a passionate energy professional with over 10 years experience in energy management and renewable energy. He is the founder and owner of Eenovators Limited, an Energy Service Company (ESCO) in Kenya Chris has been involved in hundreds of energy audits, energy projects and energy management training. He was awarded the young sub Saharan professional in 2015 by the AEE and a top 40 under 40 men in Kenya for the year 2018.
Douglas Logedi Luhangala
Senior Energy Researcher
Jesse Forrester
Chief Executive Officer – Mazi
A Kenyan award-winning entrepreneur and visionary, Jesse Forrester is the founder and C.E.O of Mazi a tech-enabled company in mobility. Mazi is developing EV solutions which will be the future of mobility in the Global South. He has a deep involvement in the Water, Food and Energy nexus and is a globally recognised speaker and keen advocate for sustainability and circular systems. Jesse Forrester is a believer in the confluence of social impact and profit. More specifically he builds green business solutions like The Living Machine Project- a zero-waste wastewater treatment system designed to treat over 1000 litres of water/day. He is an accomplished speaker and host, participating in events like TEDx, The Anzisha Prize and the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW). It is Jesse Forrester’s belief in Greentech that is catalyzing the development of Africa’s most sustainable companies.
Eng. David Munene Mwangi
Energy Advisory Consultant
Eng. David Munene Mwangi, an Electrical Engineer by profession, is an independent energy consultant with 42 years of experience in the power sector, 32 of which was in Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC – Kenya Power), where he rose through the ranks to Chief Manager, Planning, Research and Performance Monitoring, a position he held for 9 years from 2001 to 2010. He has actively participated in regional power initiatives, such as Eastern Africa Power Pool, Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and NBI’s Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme (NELSAP), Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya Interconnection projects, etc.
He provides a wide range of consultancy services in Kenya and eastern Africa and has served or is serving clients such as USAID, World Bank, IFC, GIZ, KfW Banking Group, UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), CDC, NBI, NELSAP, Tata Power Company of India, Tanzania’s Energy and Water Regulatory Authority (EWURA), Latitude Capital Management L.P. of USA, Actis and four Kenyan independent power producers (IPPs). David currently dedicates 60% of his work-time to USAID’s Power Africa – East Africa Energy Program (EAEP) as Senior Advisor to KPLC and KETRACO.
He was Country Consultant, Kenya, for the World Bank global initiative titled “Rethinking Power Sector Reform” and from October 2016 to June 2019 was an advisor in the DFID-funded East Africa Geothermal Energy Facility (EAGER) from May 2015 to November 2018. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Lake Turkana Wind Power Limited and was an Alternate Independent Board Member of the Regional Rusumo Power Company Limited from October 2014 to November 2018. He is a member by invitation, of the Project Team, PPPs in Variable On-Grid Renewable Energy (Solar and Wind), of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) International PPP Centre of Excellence, and member of advisory boards of one consulting firm and two annual international power conferences. He represents Kenya Energy Sector Development Partners in the Task Force on Implementation of the Energy Act, 2019. He holds a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nairobi and is a Registered Engineer and a Member of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya.
Eng. Macben Makenzi
Technical Advisor Water and Energy For Food – GIZ
Macben Makenzi is a senior energy specialist with over 12 years of experience in renewable energy projects, energy efficiency, industrial automation and nexus topics (water-energy-food).
He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Mechatronic Engineering and a Master’s degree in Energy Technology. He has also undertaken and obtained several other certifications including from the Florence School of Regulation (FSR) and the Renewables Academy AG (RENAC).
During the past decade, his work has focused on the promotion, design, evaluation and development of clean energy and water-energy efficiency projects in the energy and agri-food sectors.
Macben holds several practitioner licenses including an International Certified Energy Manager (CEM®) license, Solar PV T3 license from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) in Kenya, Energy auditors license (Grade A) from EPRA, an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) auditor’s license from the National Environmental and Management Authority (NEMA) and several other international certifications in the areas of renewable energy, water and energy efficiency. He is also a registered professional engineer with the Engineers Board of Kenya and a corporate engineer with the Institution of Engineers of Kenya.
Joakim Bystrom
CEO Absolicon Solar Collector
Joakim Bystrom is the CEO of Absolicon Solar Collector, a Swedish company that has developed prizewinning solar concentrators. The parabolic trough T160 has the highest optical efficiency ever measured for a small parabolic trough in commercial production and can produce heat and steam up to 160 C to replace fossil fuels and reduce energy costs for industries and district heating.
He has studied engineering physics has an University Diploma with specialization in Technology at Uppsala University. In his early career, he developed sustainable forestry together with his father in the Swedish company Logosol where he still is one of the mayor shareholders.
Outside his professional career, he served three years as Chairman at the Federation of Young Scientists, a youth organization for the advancement of science and is the founding chairman of the Solar Energy Technician Vocational Training School in Sweden. He also initiated and chaired the Stockholm Junior Water Prize under the patronage of H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria. He has represented Sweden at the UN Commission of Sustainable Development and participated in several UN environmental negotiations.
For his achievements in combining science, environmental protection and business, Mr. Bystrom has been awarded both from the King Carl XVI Gustaf’s 50-Year Fund and the WWF Carl Mannerfeld prize.
Irene Makena Ireri
Energy Research Manager CLASP
Makena is a Manager at CLASP. She manages research for the organization’s Clean Energy Access programs, primarily the Efficiency’s for Access coalition and its flagship programme Low Energy Inclusive Appliances program (LEIA). Makena develops and implements research projects that support the energy access sector to accelerate the social and environmental benefits of access to energy services in Africa and Asia. Through her work, she helps fill technical, market, consumer, and impact data gaps for a variety of off-grid appliance technologies e.g. fridges, solar water pumps, agricultural processors, and cold chain technologies. Her research also covers diverse themes like productive use, interoperability of-off grid systems, affordability, and resilience.
Makena is an Energy Generalist with over 8 years’ experience in a range of energy contexts. She spent four years as a civil engineer with the UK’s largest engineering consultancy (Atkins) working in the civil nuclear energy sectors. She worked in new asset development and in supporting the UK’s largest energy utility (EDF). Since moving into Clean Energy Access, she has gained experience in SME advisory, Innovations in funding for and accelerating energy access, research, and analyses to support sectoral action and development project management.
Eng. Jabes Manyala
Engineer Jabes Obunga Manyala has been actively involved in Energy Management in the country and has performed energy audits for an array of clients ranging from Government and Research Institutions to Banks, Manufacturing Organizations, Oil Industry, the Sugar Sector and the Mobile Telecommunications Sector.
Engineer Manyala is a Registered Engineer with the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) and has had a career in engineering spanning more than 35 years. During this period, he has worked for a number of organizations both at the national and regional levels including Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), African Regional Organization for Standardization (ARSO) and Kenya Pipeline Company Limited (KPC).
Engineer Manyala is widely travelled within and outside the African continent on both training and professional assignments. He has trained in various engineering courses in Germany, France, Canada, Dubai, Swaziland and the United Kingdom. His professional engagements have taken him to China, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Liberia, Cameroun, Ghana, Senegal, Malawi and Zambia.
Andy Amadi
As a Chemical & Process Engineer and a Certified Energy Manager, Andrew has over 15 years of experience in the energy sector. For the last 10 years, he has worked as an expert exclusively in environment, renewable energy and energy efficiency-related sectors. His work includes the carrying out of energy audits, the setting up of an Energy Service Company (ESCOs), the development and implementation of energy efficiency projects using the performance based contract approach, the Measurement and Verification (M&V) of energy savings and the development of sustainable energy policy for public and private sector organizations
Andrew’s international experience includes working on an energy audit of the water and sewerage systems of the Kingdom of Lesotho in Southern Africa. He also carried out Energy Audits of 18 SMEs in Zambia, Mozambique and Botswana, as part of the Centre for Development of Enterprise, Southern Africa Energy Management Program. He carried out technical evaluation of pyrolysis technologies from 6 manufacturers in China and also that for the production of energy briquettes using wood chippings. He has co- authored an energy efficiency manual for the Hotel industry in Mauritius.
Lisa Reynolds
Lisa Reynolds has a BSc (Chemistry) from University of Witwatersrand) and has a MBA from the University of Hull. She achieved her CEM in 2005. Lisa has worked in the insulation and interior building industry for 12 years. In 2003, she became involved in fire and energy standards and in rewriting of the building code (SANS 10400 and SANS 204). In March 2009, the Technical Committee began Edition 2 of the SANS 204 series and Lisa is once again the Chairperson of the Working Groups responsible for the drafting of these standards. Lisa was a member of the Technical Working Group for the Green Building Council of SA which drafted the Green Star rating tool for Offices (published October 2008) and the Green Star rating tool for Retail (published 2009). She served on the SAEE Board and other bodies including those at the SABS. She is actively involved in writing the energy efficiency standards for buildings and industry and is a member of the Regulatory Advisory Group. Served as research steering committee member for DME research projects; served on a committee recommending interventions for condensation preventions in low cost housing in the South Cape area; working with Eskom’s Demand Side Management department on projects; Energy Efficiency (and insulation) training for specifiers, project engineers, developers, end users and other stakeholders; Board member of SAAE’s (South African Association of ESCO’s)
Yolanda De Lange
Yolanda’s interest in the energy industry was sparked during her time as editor of Electricity+Control magazine where she was under the mentorship of the consultant to E+C, Prof Ian Jandrell. Whilst researching topics for articles and interesting stories, visiting factories and interviewing engineers and technicians she quickly came to realise that the core to efficient production processes and optimal operations could not be achieved by a one-dimensional approach but a holistic view. Energy is the one unit that integrates throughout all processes and the correct management thereof has a domino effect on all processes to be optimally managed – it is a core indicator, healthy energy use = healthy production processes. This was back in 1995 whereafter she set out to compile the first edition of the Energy Efficiency Made Simple Handbook in 2006 which ran out of print quickly but stayed in demand until today. It was followed up a second edition in 2009. After 13 years as editor of E+C magazine she embarked on a journey with the Southern African Association of Energy Efficiency (SAEE) and is currently working at the Energy Training Foundation under which banners she has published numerous articles on energy management, M&V, tax incentives and building benchmarking in business to business publications, and co-authored of numerous research papers presented at conferences. The Energy Training Foundation (EnTF) is the sole approved training partner of the US-based Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) for the Southern African region.
Sumaya Mahomed
Sumaya Mahomed is a Sustainable Development Professional with over 10 years’ experience in the energy sector. She has expansive programme experience in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. She has developed and managed renewable and energy efficiency projects for the municipality of Cape Town and has worked on various private consultancy-based renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. She is passionate about sustainable equitable development. Sumaya Mahomed has a background in Chemical Engineering, Post Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Engineering and a Masters in Sustainable Development and is currently completing her Master in Business Administration at the Edinburgh Business School.
Achievements:
- Ran the best municipal energy efficiency programme in South Africa
- 12,8% energy savings achieved against 10% energy reduction target by 2012 and a 15% energy saving against a 8% electricity saving target by 2016 within City operations programme.
- Successful Project Management and Implementation of 900kWp rooftop solar PV projects
- Successful Project Management and Implementation of over 80 municipal energy efficient buildings
- Green procurement programme : Greening City lighting stock items
- Developed the first local government Performance Guarantee Savings contract
- Developed an energy efficiency programmed that supported local economic development