In the lead-up to the Africa Energy and Infrastructure Investment Forum, we spoke to some of the key market participants who will also be on stage as panelists in London.
This Interview Series, gets to grips with what is front of mind for many developers and financiers as the African energy and infrastructure landscape evolves. Our speaker, Marco Angelino, CFO of Enel Green Power in South Africa, shared his insights on some of the key challenges and opportunities.
What is the primary challenge that you are currently facing in the market, and how are you adapting to this?
The main challenge we are facing is the uncertainty of the regulatory framework and the delayed decision-making process of the relevant local institutions. Time for investors has a value. Lack of clarity and uncertainty on processes affect time/value and credibility. More than adapting ourselves to the challenge, we want to be part of the solution, supporting local institutions in finding win-win solutions.
What is your key goal for your organisation in the next year?
Our target is to start deploying the investments we have budgeted for in the region, making the world more ‘green and sustainable’.
Which country in sub-Saharan Africa excites you the most in terms of its energy/infrastructure potential, and why?
Even though South Africa had in the past 18 months a difficult period (macro-economic and political scenario), I still think that the country has the biggest potential to develop and implement large scale energy/infrastructure projects in the region because the country still shows 3 important factors: need for investments, availability of a well-developed banking system to financially support investments and local skills.
If you could give one piece of advice to governments across the region who are looking to grow their country’s energy footprint, what would it be?
Making decisions in order to be ready today for tomorrow, because the energy market will be the pillar and the necessary condition to provide adequate development in the region. The biggest enemy of governments would be to keep things on hold without giving clear guidance to their countries. They need diversification (energy mix), sustainability (financial and environmental) and clear targets for the short and medium/long term.
Africa Energy and Infrastructure Investment Forum – Speaker Profile
Marco Angelino
Chief Financial Officer, Enel Green Power RSA
Marco Angelino is a Chief Financial Officer/Finance Director/Investment Director with 10+ year end-to-end international experience (Europe, USA, Africa and Latam) in Project Finance, M&A, Leveraged Finance, Mezzanine Finance, Tax Partnerships, Corporate Finance and Export Credit. His overall experience comes either from the banking sector (Investment banking from 2006 till 2011) and from the industrial market. He joined the Enel Group (the world class Italian utility) as Head of Project and Structured Finance in 2011 and he is currently the Chief Financial Officer for the Enel Group in the Sub Saharan Africa region (based in South Africa, Johannesburg) where Enel is managing an investment portfolio of more than 1,5 billion euros of renewable assets (522 MW in operation and 830 MW under development/construction) spread upon South Africa (1,22 GW), Zambia (40 MW) and Ethiopia (100 MW).
He has got a Ph.D. in Banking and Finance in 2011 at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and a Master in Business Administration in 2016 obtained across 5 international business schools: SDA Bocconi School of Management as leading institution (Italy, Milan), plus UCLA Anderson School of Management (Los Angeles, USA), Fudan University (Shanghai, China), Fundação Instituto deAdministração (Sao Paulo, Brasil) and Copenhagen Business School (Copenhagen, Denmark).
To register for the Africa Energy and Infrastructure Investment Forum click here
