The third Clean Technology business and investment matchmaking conference for the African continent is to be held South Africa in October 2013. Dubbed Viridis Africa, the event is dedicated to entrepreneurs and corporate institutions seeking funding to introduce clean technology solutions and services. Principals who would present their business opportunities at this event would have the audience of numerous local and foreign investors, stratified according to their interest and investment criteria. “It will be bigger, better, more defined and refined in achieving its stated goal of bringing together both investors and entrepreneurs from Africa to meet with their counterparts from around the world in order to pursue the objective of setting up clean technologies businesses in the continent holding commercial promise” stated Suza Adam, event organizer. Investors would include venture capital, private equity, project and corporate finance outfits and project developers dedicated to the cleantech sector. They would also include North American, European funding agencies, major Asian industrial conglomerates, technology specific investment funds and major companies who seek strategic alliance and acquisitions. For African entrepreneurs and their businesses, the Johannesburg held event will prove most beneficial in as much as it will allow them to meet with potential global partners, both in technology and finance so as to evaluate and execute projects. Areas of interest include renewable energy, provision of potable water, solid waste recycling, effluent treatment and other projects that aside of their commercial merits would have even greater socio-economic benefits and impact on the people and environment of the continent for years to come. Some projects in the past, although technologically sound, could not be justified commercially, nor technically, as support infrastructure – human resource and even reliable energy supply - could not be sustained. Africa is now becoming the focus of the developed nations as far as inward investment into the continent, so as to “fire up” economic development, there is much anticipation that infrastructural development will ensue, said Suza. Thus, the provision of energy, water – for drinking, agricultural and industrial use – as well as other objectives such as road infrastructure and telecommunication will become a priority. Therefore in Africa the concept of “clean technology” is more about the ability to answer to the said needs in a more independent manner, than what is currently possible - that is deploying energy generating capacity that is not reliant on massive infrastructural setup, but rather small scale and scalable solutions adapted to remote and rural regions within a country. Similarly innovative solutions regarding water treatment and purification coupled with that of industrial effluents can also be deployed on the basis of small scale and scalable range of solutions, thereby commercially justified as per community and regions’ needs. Viridis Africa will therefore showcase Clean Technology initiatives and innovative solutions which balance commercial promise with cost affordability to users.