FThe Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy is aware that Africa also harbours enormous potential for the German economy. At its invitation, Bavarian companies operating in sub-Saharan Africa came together at the Krones AG site in Neutraubling at the beginning of February for the first Africa Round Table, with the aim of bringing them into dialogue with each other and, if necessary, creating synergies.
The special thing about this get-together, which was organised in cooperation with the Regensburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) for Upper Palatinate / Kelheim, was that only selected companies were able to take part. On the EWIA side, West Africa Director Wolf-Dietrich Fugger gladly accepted the invitation from Minister of State Tobias Gotthardt. A total of around 40 company representatives were present.
After Markus Huber, Foreign Trade Policy and Country Consultancy Officer, International Division of the Regensburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and Tobias Gotthardt had opened the evening event, a representative of Krones AG gave the participants a tour of the factory premises. Founded in 1951, the MDAX-listed manufacturer of plant and machinery for the production, filling and packaging of beverages and liquid foodstuffs has an annual turnover of almost five billion euros and operates subsidiaries in Johannesburg (South Africa), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Lagos (Nigeria), as well as an office and warehouse in Ghana.
The tour was followed by a presentation on ‘Krones in Africa’ with Q&A and a subsequent networking dinner with finger food and drinks and exciting conversations between the participants.
The Africa regulars' table at Krones AG provided EWIA with valuable insights and takeaways:
Role model in sustainability and autonomy. New solar power systems were installed at four locations. The first was the Krones West Africa Centre in Lagos, Nigeria. Solar panels and inverters were integrated into the power system back in December 2022. Since then, the entire demand at the site in Lagos has been covered by this in-house renewable energy source. The self-generated solar power is also fed into batteries that serve as a back-up and have a storage capacity of 830 kilowatt hours. The new 24-hour solar energy source supplies the entire office building of Krones West Africa, including the workshop and glue production. The power grid and generator only need to be used in emergencies. The solar power system on the roof of the building is an impressive 2,746 square metres in size and generates an impressive output of 542 kilowatt peak. In optimal weather conditions, the office is completely energy self-sufficient and can run on green electricity day and night. The 24-hour green electricity supply reduces CO2 emissions by an impressive 2,285 tonnes over its entire service life. At the beginning of March 2024, Krones opened a new office building in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the first Krones building in the world to receive Net Zero certification. During the planning phase, particular emphasis was placed on glazing to create a friendly working atmosphere and save energy for lighting. An important component that is not visible from the ground, however, are the 560 solar panels. They supply the building with 300 kilowatts of renewable energy.
Network maintenance and expansion: The event enabled EWIA to maintain existing contacts and make new connections with representatives from business and politics who are interested in economic cooperation with Africa.
Best practices and experience reports: The exchange with other companies already active in Africa provided valuable insights into successful strategies and possible challenges when implementing projects on the African continent.
These takeaways will help EWIA to continue its mission to provide small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa with access to clean solar energy and to act as a bridge builder between European investors and African partners.
Following the successful inaugural event, a quarterly frequency of the forum is now planned, with the location rotating so that different companies in Bavaria can host the event at some point. We look forward to seeing you again and thank you very much for the invitation.
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