Senior executives from some of Southern Africa’s top power utilities and grid operators are confirmed to speak at the Power Africa Today conference during African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 in Cape Town from October 12-16.
Their participation reflects the growing focus on transmission infrastructure, grid modernization and regional power market integration as the continent works to match generation growth with the networks needed to deliver it.
South Africa’s Eskom has stabilized its generation fleet after years of load-shedding, recording more than 340 consecutive days without power cuts and a 98.9% energy availability rate in the 2025-26 financial year. Group Chief Executive Dan Marokane will speak at Power Africa Today as the utility advances a government-mandated unbundling that will separate its transmission assets into an independent system operator.
Joining Marokane is Velaphi Ntuli, Eskom’s Chief Nuclear Officer at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station. Koeberg, Africa’s only operating nuclear plant, secured 20-year license extensions for both units in 2024 and 2025, ensuring 1,860 MW of baseload capacity through 2045. With the updated Integrated Resource Plan (2025) calling for 5,200 MW of new nuclear capacity, Ntuli’s presence brings the role of nuclear baseload into the wider grid discussion at Power Africa Today.
In Uganda, installed generation capacity has more than doubled from 850 MW in 2014 to over 2,050 MW, but the transmission network has not kept pace. The Uganda Electricity Transmission Company (UETCL) is addressing this challenge through the Amari Power Transmission Project, a $50 million partnership with UK-based Gridworks that became the first independent transmission project in Africa to reach construction in early 2026. UETCL is also advancing the 298 km Uganda-Tanzania interconnector, due to begin construction in 2026-27. CEO Richard Matsiko will speak at the conference.
Meanwhile, Zambia’s ZESCO has introduced open-access grid regulations allowing private producers to wheel power through its network and adopted a multi-year tariff framework to give investors predictable returns. The utility is targeting 1,000 MW of solar by end of 2026 to counter hydropower shortfalls and in May 2026 signed a memorandum of understanding with Stanbic Bank and GreenCo Power Services to jointly develop a portfolio of renewable projects for commercial and industrial customers. Managing Director Justin Loongo joins the Power Africa Today lineup to discuss these projects.
At the regional level, Stephen Dihwa, Coordination Centre Executive Director of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), joins the conference as a time when regional integration is scaling. SAPP coordinates power planning, operations and trading across 12 SADC member states, nine of which are now physically interconnected. In February 2026, the SAPP and the East Africa Power Pool signed an agreement to harmonize cross-border trading rules, while a World Bank-backed technical assistance program is supporting the expansion of the regional electricity market.
“Power utilities are at the heart of Africa’s industrial future,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “If we are serious about making energy poverty history, we need stronger collaboration between utilities, governments, investors and technology providers. Power Africa Today is where that collaboration takes shape.”
Power Africa Today brings together policymakers, utilities, investors and developers to address the regulatory, financial and infrastructural challenges of building interconnected electricity markets across the continent.
The conference takes place as part of AEW 2026 in Cape Town from October 12-16.
