Key Moments
Cape Town was the proud host of YES! 2025, the largest global gathering of youth in the energy sector, with over 6,000 registered participants and more than 3,000 attending in person. Bringing together entrepreneurs, students, educators, and early-career professionals, YES! 2025 served as a vibrant platform where youth connected with leaders from across the corporate and development sectors. It was a place to meet, learn, share ideas, and build lasting partnerships.
This year’s summit was proudly supported by our summit sponsor Department of Electricity and Energy (DEE) and the IPP Office South Africa and our foundational partner the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).
The 2025 programme featured an exciting range of talks, presentations, workshops, awards, and training sessions – all designed to inspire, inform, and prepare youth for meaningful careers. From motivational speakers to hands-on skills training, the event lived up to our ethos: “Together We Will Go Further”.
During the opening ceremony, we welcomed to the stage both the Deputy Minister of Energy & Electricity for South Africa, H.E Honourable Samantha Graham Maré, and the Commissioner for infrastructure & energy from the African Union, H.E Honourable Lerato Dorothy Mataboge. Both African leaders stressed the youth’s crucial role in capitalising on the technological revolution that has just begun. A clear message that instructed the youth to take control of their future and the future of Africa’s energy.
In the Entrepreneurs Arena, Infinity Power hosted a competition that awarded $5,000 to fund winners Leandro Antonio, and Vincent Mosebe and their company, Mosebe Enterprise. The range of ideas from the competitors encapsulated just how bright and creative the youth is with their innovative solutions. Across three days, over 230 speakers from students to energy ministers and CEOs of global companies joined us to create a cooperative and empowering environment.
Our Recruiters Spotlight hosted graduate programme presentations and insights from a multitude of household names and industry leading brands such as Nedbank, DBSA, Siemens Energy, Pele Energy Group, Standard Bank, Scatec, RMB, Genesis Energy, Eskom, Total Energies, and many more. This event had a significant and clear impact on our youth toward them exploring the sector and finding employment.
“Winning the Powering Up prize is both a validation of our vision and a catalyst for our mission.”
— was given by Leandro, representing Mosebe Enterprise in a interview.
The workshops offered a wide range of opportunities, from exploring project finance and investment strategies to unpacking the key factors that determine why energy projects succeed or fail. Sessions delved into overcoming financial hurdles, strengthening regulatory understanding, and building the practical skills needed to navigate Africa’s evolving energy landscape. This diversity ensured participants gained insights that were both relevant to their careers and essential for driving real impact in the sector
At the Siemens Energy booth, youth explored the energy transition through the Siemens Transition Game, created by Madhubanti Basu. Working in teams, they built power infrastructure for a fictional city while balancing growth, carbon neutrality, and net-zero goals. Each round highlighted the trade-offs of real energy planning, with participants returning smarter and more strategic every time. The game turned complex challenges into an engaging, memorable learning experience.
YES! triumphs against aef at The Africa Challenge Cup Thousands of attendees gathered as aef and YES! battled it out under the floodlights of Africa’s premier football venue, Cape Town’s DHL Stadium. Both teams were coached by players from South Africa’s Women’s Varsity Football team. The final scores favoured YES!, who triumphed with a 4-2 victory.
During our closing awards ceremony, we brought together the organisations who are employing and training the youth together to celebrate such an impactful event. A warm congratulations to Pele Energy Group for earning the Impact Company award; their commitment to Africa and Africans is truly remarkable. Equally, congratulations to the University of Cape Town for winning Most Active University Parter. Their unwavering commitment to push their students to think far beyond academia will accelerate employment into the energy sector in Africa.
We would like to thank everyone who took part in YES! 2025 for their support, enthusiasm and energy and look out for the full Post Show Report coming very soon!