Darryn is currently a Trade Policy Officer at the Delegation of the European Union to South Africa, where he is responsible for policy matters related to investment, energy, mining and digitalisation - a position he has held since 2018. His works contribute to the strategic partnership action plan between the EU and South Africa and the implementation of the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement. Prior to this he spent more than 4 years with the Western Cape Government. His career began in the private sector, dealing with international trade, renewable energy and investment policy. Darryn’s professional interests include investor-state dispute settlement, international trade law and investment development for increased free and fair trade. He holds degrees in law and corporate affairs.

For over 35 years, Iain Banner has co-founded and directed various successful businesses and charitable ventures throughout the world, across the sports, entertainment, luxury goods and hospitality industries. As co-founder and chairman of E-Movement, Iain and his partners successfully staged Formula E Cape Town in February 2023.  Prior to that, they also staged ‘Africa’s Green Economy Summit’, connecting capital with the Green Economy, launched Formula Student Africa and staged the E-Fest ELECTRIC.  GO GREEN AFRICA was launched by Iain at this time too. Iain’s previous projects include co-founding Sports International, the Gary Player Design Company, and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Iain also co-founded the Laureus World Sport Awards and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which has raised over €250 million supporting some 300 projects annually, using sport as a tool for social change in the lives of children. Independent assessments have shown that some 7 million children have been positively impacted by the work of the Sport for Good Foundation since it was founded in 2000.

Since 2022, Enrico Brandt has been serving as the Deputy Ambassador and Head of the Economics and Global Issues Department at the German Embassy in Pretoria. As Germany cooperates intensively with South Africa on energy matters, for instance on the framework of the Energy Partnership and  Germany’s membership in the International Partners Group of the Just Energy Transition, energy issues play a central role in his work. Mr Brandt was previously posted in Bejing, Washington D.C. and Lima. His posts in Germany included positions in the Legal Department of the Federal Foreign Office as well as the International Department of the Office of the Federal President of Germany. He holds a degree in law.

Jonathan (Jon) Butler is Head of Business Development at Mitsubishi Corporation. Based in London, Jon specialises in the sales and marketing of platinum group metals, silver and gold as well as leading Mitsubishi’s precious metals research and strategy. Jon works closely with the refining industry and key end users in the automotive, pharmaceutical and fine chemical sectors and is closely involved with Mitsubishi’s new market development and investment in the hydrogen industry. Jon previously worked in various marketing and research roles at Johnson Matthey, and holds a PhD and Master’s degrees in earth sciences from the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford. He is a Board and Executive Member of the IPMI and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Platinum Group Metals Refining Council as well as on the LBMA Public Affairs Committee.

Markus Exenberger is an economist and engineer and has spent 20 years managing large and complex energy portfolios in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, dealing in particular with the development of large-scale energy and infrastructure projects. Among others, he has worked for the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH and international consulting companies. Markus initiated H2Global together with Timo Bollerhey.

Fergus Feltman is a seasoned gas and chemicals professional, with 24 years’ large-scale industrial complex experience including: hydrogen (H₂) production (grey H₂ via electrolysis); H₂ compression; H₂ plant maintenance; Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) capture, purification, liquefaction and storage, from various sources; air separation; utilities plant; vessel fabrication and manufacturing operations. His commercial experience in managing national gas supply contracts with large mining and industrial multinationals further augments his deep technical skills. He is currently an Engineering Consultant with Atlanthia, a position he has held since April 2021. He has previously worked for Zimile Consulting Engineers, Afrox, SAB-Miller and NECSA.

Michele Ferrazzinireceived the “Laurea” degree in Electrical Engineering (“ingegneria elettrotecnica”) from the Politecnico of Milan in 1992. From 1992 until today, he has worked in the power generation industry in some of the largest companies in this field, from Ansaldo Energia to ABB, from Alstom (now GE) to Sadelmi. He has worked on energy projects in four continents, ranging from fossil to renewable energies, from hydro to coal, from gas to biomass, from photovoltaic to wastes, from geothermal to pumping storage. For the last 14 years, he has worked for ESE, a consultancy and engineering company devoted to power generation, energy storage and hydrogen, starting as a Technical Manager and becoming Partner in 2013 and Managing Director in 2015. As ESE's director he helped the company to enter the next era of innovative storage and renewable generation, i.e., floating photovoltaic, a new kind of biomass gasification, molten salts storage, hybrid plants combining fossil and renewable fuels, as well as solutions for hydrogen production, storage and utilization.

In 2018, he started working in the green hydrogen field, developing many projects for different kind of customers. During these six years, his job has spanned green hydrogen production plants (from small to huge, from 150kW to 600/800MW), hydrogen refueling stations, green ammonia production and cracking, H₂+CH₄ mixing skids, PV + hydrogen-fueled houses, H₂ development studies, etc., accumulating important knowledge in all aspects of the green hydrogen field.

Christine is a senior banker at Fieldstone. She has 21 years of investment banking experience and has fulfilled senior roles in corporate finance, global markets and asset management across developed and emerging markets at both global organisations and private firms including Goldman Sachs International, Credit Suisse, Rand Merchant Bank and a prominent South African family office. Whilst at Fieldstone, Christine has led and closed numerous transactions, including the issuance of a green bond by a development finance institute, the sale of several renewable energy assets to large institutional investors, typical debt and equity capital raises, debt restructuring and refinancing, providing advice on fund and corporate structuring, strategic advisory to governments, energy ministries, private investors, developers and Export Credit Agencies and international government organisations including the United Nations and USAID. Prior to joining Fieldstone, she was active in the project finance space with an emphasis on the renewable energy sector, specifically geothermal power generation. In her previous capacity as a project finance transactor in South Africa, she worked on numerous energy and infrastructure projects. She has also worked extensively in the Sub-Saharan African corporate and sovereign debt capital markets for issuers including, inter alia, the Government of Kenya, the Central Bank of Ghana, the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sonangol Group, Dangote Industries Limited and the Ghana Cocoa Board.

Aldrin Govindasamy is a mechanical engineer with 14 years of experience in optimising water and energy projects, with a focus on the design of localised compressor packages. He joined the decarbonisation and water team at Howden, a Chart Industries company, about 3 years ago. Howden's motto is “Powering the Nexus of Clean,” which means that we build solutions for a sustainable future. The group is dedicated to building solutions for a sustainable future. We design, engineer, manufacture and service solutions for the Nexus of Clean, which includes clean power such as hydrogen solutions, clean water, clean food and clean industrials

Henrik Hartmann leads the secretariat of the bilateral energy partnership between South Africa and Germany. Established through a joint declaration in 2013, the partnership aims to advance the bilateral dialogue and practical cooperation between both countries on sustainable energy. As the Head of Secretariat, Henrik’s responsibilities include coordinating the intergovernmental dialogue on energy issues, providing policy advice and leading the cooperation with industry associations and research institutes. Henrik is an international affairs specialist and has worked for the German Government, the UN and research institutions.

Nadège Hopman is the Deputy Head of the regional representation for Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean at the European Investment Bank. She worked in development finance at the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) in Paris where she was on secondment and provided technical expertise in carbon capture and storage, oil & gas and geothermal energy during her first years at the EIB.

Before devoting her work to investment and development finance, she worked with Schlumberger for 12 years, mostly in Africa and the North Sea. She held various positions from field engineer to service manager and went on to lead technical teams on some first-of-a-kind CO2 storage projects in Europe. She has co-authored several papers both on technical and on psychology-related topics. Nadège holds a Masters in Civil Engineering, a Masters in Geophysics, an MBA from INSEAD, a BSc in Psychology and is PMP certified.

Itumeleng (Tumi) Kgomo, a mega-project specialist, started his career as a hotelier and worked for numerous local and global chains. Being the entrepreneur he is, he left the tourism trade to run a specialist development firm. It was in 2007 that he was approached by the National Treasury of South Africa to become an operational specialist for G20 and subsequently to develop operational plan templates for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa, the setting up of the monitoring tools for the tournament and the scope of development thereto. Post the World Cup, Treasury retained him for his project management expertise in mega-project evaluation to further add value to: a feasibility study of the 2015 Rugby World Cup tournament for and within the bid negotiations and the 2030 Olympic bid; project management for treasury on the Medupi and Kusile Power stations and Ingula Pump Storage Scheme. The mandate was to monitor and evaluate the new build programmes and he was further charged with co-developing and motivating a 50-year energy programme for the country. In 2012, he was retained by the Department of Public Enterprises to monitor and evaluate their mega-projects, which were of national interest.  Oversight on the presidential projects, known as Strategic Integration Projects (SIPs), were also part of his responsibility. Currently, Tumi is the Chief Executive Officer of EPCM Global, an engineering and consulting firm that focuses on business innovation enablement, specifically within the energy and nuclear sector and first-of-a-kind technologies. 

With mechatronic and mechanical engineering as a background, Dexter King has utilized his practical work experience coupled with his passion for business development to provide valuable insights into PPAs, project developments and cultivating relationships with large off takers within the renewable energy industry.

Hendrik Louw holds a Masters in Development Sciences from the University of the Free State. He has more than twenty years’ work experience and most of this he gained in the private  and public sectors in terms of socio-economic development. He has extensive local and international exposure and experience. His passion is and always will be socio-economic development for Africa, and specifically South Africa and the Northern Cape and developing regions globally. For the past few years he has led the Northern Cape Green Hydrogen and Just Energy Transition Participation process which includes the Northern Cape Green Hydrogen Strategy, Boegoeberg project, Western SADC Green Hydrogen and several other mobility-related projects

Dr Rebecca Maserumule is currently the Chairperson of the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE).  IPHE, formed in 2003, is an international governmental partnership currently consisting of 21 member countries and the European Commission with a mission to facilitate and accelerate the transition to clean and efficient energy and mobility systems using hydrogen and fuel cell technologies across application and sectors.  IPHE also informs broad stakeholder groups, including policymakers and the public, on the benefits and challenges to establishing widespread commercial hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in the economy.  Dr Rebecca Maserumule is also Chief Science and Technology Representative: Hydrogen and Vaccines at the National Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) in South Africa.  Her responsibilities include fostering international partnerships to support the successful implementation of the Hydrogen Society Roadmap. Rebecca holds a Ph.D in Mathematics with a focus on computational fluid dynamics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.  Before joining the DSI she worked for the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy as an Industrial Energy Efficiency Specialist and a Demand Modelling Specialist supporting the development of energy policies. Her early working career was spent as a senior researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. 

Born in Lusaka, Zambia and with a personal understanding of various cultures within the SADC region, Maidei is an experienced Strategist and Investment Facilitator with more than 20 years’ experience working in both the public and private sectors in South Africa. Maidei holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree (with a major in Industrial Psychology) from the University of Namibia. In 2009, Maidei completed her Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria. She also holds certificates in project management, strategic management and corporate governance from the University of South Africa. Since 2014, Maidei has been affiliated to the Gauteng IDZ, a state-owned company established to oversee the development and operations of the Special Economic Zone at OR Tambo International Airport. In her current role, Maidei is responsible for facilitating the location of investments into OR Tambo International Airport SEZ, a multi-billion Rand development that is part of the broader South African national SEZ programme established to promote economic growth through special arrangements and support systems.

Jonathan Metcalfe is the Business Case Development Manager for ENERTRAG South Africa. ENERTRAG is a German-based renewable energy company with activities in wind, solar PV, storage, green hydrogen and grid infrastructure. Active in 15 countries and with a large portfolio of renewable energy assets, ENERTRAG has been a pioneer of both the wind and the hydrogen industry. Jonathan sits within the global PtX division, working across a portfolio of projects largely focused on commercial scale PtX export hubs. Most notable is his role as the project manager for the Hyphen Hydrogen Energy project in Namibia, which is Africa’s largest fully-integrated hydrogen project. Before joining ENERTRAG, he headed up the Hydrogen division for PwC South Africa and worked closely on decarbonisation strategies for the mining industry. Jonathan studied economics and mathematics at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

Prakashim is a project management and sustainability professional with more than 27 years’ experience across the defence, power generation and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturing and mining sectors. Prior to joining Anglo American Platinum, he worked at ABInBev Africa as the Africa Zone Projects Manager responsible for leading a large, multi-disciplinary team which focused on the development and execution of projects supporting capacity, capability and continuity across Africa. Prior to that, he worked for companies such as SABMiller, Eskom and Armscor, where he strategically led and successfully delivered large-scale projects, both locally and internationally. Over his career Prakashim has focused on bringing key environmental and sustainable development aspects into the delivery of projects. In his present role, he leads a multidisciplinary team that ensures delivering on the demand for minerals and metals, which is executed in a safe and efficient manner to ensure the optimal and sustainable use of land, energy and water in a fully integrated manner with all stakeholders. Key deliverables include the mapping and execution of renewable energy options and energy efficiency projects on the pathway to zero carbon emissions. Prakashim has a BSc (Chemical Engineering) from University of Natal, Durban, South Africa and has completed the Executive Development Programme through Columbia University, New York, USA

Themba studied political science as well as supply chain management and cut his professional teeth in the automotive industry, where he worked for German automotive suppliers. Having lived between Germany and Southern Africa most of his life, Themba has a nuanced view on bilateral trade. At the SA-German Chamber of Commerce & Industry, he heads the renewable energy portfolio within the Competence Centre for Climate & Environment. Since 2018, he has promoted increased capital deployment for distributed power generation, green hydrogen and sustainable energy, broadly speaking. The SA-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the official representative of German business abroad and is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate Action.

Seten is an executive at Implats, leading the formulation of strategy in new commodities and hydrogen. Prior to joining Implats, Seten was a Fund Manager at Visio Fund Managers focusing on commodity market research and commodity equity investments globally. Prior to entering the asset management industry, Seten spent 7 years at Standard Bank achieving top ratings as a mining and commodities analyst focusing on the PGM sector. 

Mike Peo is the Head of Infrastructure, Energy and Telecommunications for Nedbank CIB, part of the Nedbank Group.  Mike is a CA (SA), has completed an Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD and has 28 years of investment banking experience. Mike has served on numerous boards of directors/advisory boards over the past 20 years, including: Chairman – International Project Finance Association (SA Chapter), Advisor – The Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance (Southern Africa), Member of the Governing Board of The African Infrastructure Investment Fund, Chairman of the Governing Board for the Fund Asset Disposal – The South African Infrastructure Investment Fund and NEPAD (various advisory roles). Mike has lead a matrix team of skilled professionals in the financing, development and procurement of large-scale infrastructure projects on the African continent for over 24 years and has successfully built one of the pre-eminent businesses in this space where Nedbank has had a dominant market position in many sectors, winning in excess of 32 international awards for projects executed. Notable recent successes include positioning Nedbank as the leading financier of renewable energy projects, procured by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy under the REIPPP Programme, securing circa 42% market share. Mike is regarded as one of the thought-leaders in the structuring of debt and equity financing solutions in the infrastructure, energy and telecoms sectors, having originated and lead a significant number of transformative and internationally recognised transactions across Africa and in South Africa.

Gareth is the Climate & Sustainability Leader for Deloitte Consulting in South Africa. He couples his passion for global climate and environmental sustainability with deep experience in innovation and commercialisation in industrial technology. He has operated in several professional environments, ranging from multiple start-up companies, to senior corporate leadership and professional services. The golden thread throughout his professional background has been innovation and technology commercialisation to solve large, intractable problems. Avoiding the catastrophic scenarios of climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our age. The world is at the beginning of an energy revolution that is unprecedented in scale and importance, and Africa has a meaningful role to play in this transition due to the abundance of renewable resources, minerals and a growing young population.

Arndt Roehrmann has 28 years’ experience in railway and with rolling stock projects, especially with engineering activities. His current product portfolio includes Coradia iLINT (fuel cell train), Coradia Continental (battery electric train) and Coradia Nordic (winterised train with last-mile battery). 

David Sekgororwana is the Managing Director of African Hydrogen Ventures (AHV), a company incorporated in South Africa to invest in and advance the commercialisation of hydrogen value chain opportunities in the continent. Prior to joining AHV, David was a Business Development Manager at the Industrial Development Corporation responsible for the renewable energy sector. David is a Chemical Engineer by profession but honed his career over 20 years in various disciplines including metallurgical R&D, petrochemical operations, strategy and business development and investment. David is on a mission to assist entrepreneurs in building and growing sustainable businesses thus making a difference in the lives of Africans.

Fahmida is a Chemical Engineer by profession and has been in the PGM mining industry for 25 years. The last 14 years of her career has been focused on market development, particularly on the hydrogen and fuel cell sector. Fahmida leads Anglo American’s market development work on hydrogen in South Africa, where she works closely with the South African Government as well as local and international industry players. Her current focus is on the development of a South African Hydrogen Valley and a heavy duty hydrogen freight corridor.

Vinay Somera is the founder and CEO of Isondo Precious Metals. He has 30 years of experience within the platinum and associated industries and spent 25 years within the Impala Platinum group of companies working across many functional areas, and finally serving as the Implats Group Executive: Market Development and Strategy. While at Implats, he helped create and build Impala Refining Services (IRS), a subsidiary of Implats, from a zero base into a 1-million-ounce platinum refiner with a multi-billion-rand turnover. A strong proponent of beneficiation of metals in South Africa, he left Implats in 2013 and founded Isondo Precious Metals to help create a precious metals beneficiation industry. Vinay has a BSc degree in Mathematics and Chemistry, as well as a BCom (Hons) degree. He also holds an Executive MBA from the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business.

Dr Andries van der Linde is credited with pioneering the South African wind energy industry and he was instrumental in signing the first South African PPA in1996. This resulted in the first fully commercial wind farm being developed in South Africa. He has vast experience as an energy specialist working with and for government, private companies, the World Bank and GEF. Andries has a Master’s in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Electrical Engineering. He is also a Master Electrician and a registered electrical technologist.

Sietse has a Master's degree in radiation physics. As a manager at the National Nuclear Regulator, he was responsible for the establishment of a regulatory framework for radiation protection in mining. He did his MBA with a focus on integrating sustainability issues into the strategy of businesses. He then joined Xstrata as a manager responsible for safety, health, environment and quality. In 2004 he was appointed as the Head of Safety and Sustainable Development at the Minerals Council South Africa (formerly the Chamber of Mines) where he enjoyed being part of the mining industry's safety and health enhancement initiatives. Since 2015 he has served as the Senior Executive: Modernisation and Safety and his purpose remains to help facilitate a people-centric modernisation of the mining industry.

Mardé van Wyk has extensive investment experience in private equity covering the entire deal value chain and sector exposure spanning across a myriad of investment (direct and fund) positions facilitated from generalist to theme-based strategies.  She is regarded as specialist in investment, organisational and process structuring, including investment restructuring – a skillset obtained whilst working with distressed investments at South Africa’s largest asset manager. Her appreciation for innovation and solution engineering has led to her continued involvement in impactful theme-based venture capital project development initiatives with scale and global reach.  This experience also comes with a long history of serving on the board, advisory board and various sub-committees of a number of underlying companies and funds. In her role as Venture Partner with AP Ventures, she is closely involved with its strategy to invest in companies that use or enable the consumption of PGMs with a principal focus on hydrogen related technologies. 

Neil Woolcock is the Business Development and Commercial Director of Air Liquide Large Industries South Africa (ALLISA), which owns and operates the largest oxygen production site in the world, with strong energy transition goals for the assets including renewable energy. Prior to moving to ALLISA he led the development of new business for Air Liquide in Africa, focusing on large projects in the chemicals, metals and oil and gas markets while also supporting the industrial merchant and healthcare sectors. Since joining Air Liquide in 2006, Neil has developed new investment projects to the value of more than 600mEur in on-site air, gas and hydrogen (electrolysis) production. This experience has given him a unique insight into the challenges facing the gas industry in developing infrastructure to support growth and the energy transition.