2nd Root Cause Analysis Africa Conference,
Cape Town, South Africa 2026

A Metallurgical Engineering graduate from the University of the Witwatersrand, Craig has worked as an asset integrity engineer, inspection supervisor and specialist consultant to operators such as SAPREF and Saudi Aramco. He has contributed to standards development, expert witness work and contract dispute resolution, and has been recognised by the Corrosion Institute of Southern Africa as Consulting Engineer of the Year (2013) and Bronze Medal awardee (2022).

Since 2004, Craig has also been an AMPP instructor, training and mentoring more than 3,000 professionals worldwide on cathodic protection, coatings and corrosion control. Passionate about human capital development, he integrates rigorous engineering with education, leadership and values-driven practice to help organisations protect critical infrastructure and build long-term asset integrity.

Renowned for his mastery of #ForensicCostAnalysis, contract strategy, and high-stakes dispute resolution, Eben brings a rare mix of technical understanding and legal sharpness. His straightforward, data-driven approach cuts through noise and gets to the heart of what matters most in construction disputes: time, money, and merit.

His signature insight—“If it’s emotional, stay at home”—captures his no-nonsense philosophy. Clients, QSs, engineers, and legal teams respect him for:

• Turning complex disputes into clear, actionable pathways
• Bringing forensic precision to messy, multi-layered claims
• Delivering balanced, commercially sound interpretations
• Drawing on decades of real project experience—not theory
  #ProjectControls #ConstructionClaims

As a keynote speaker for the 2nd RCA Africa Conference, Eben will unpack the realities of risk, claims, and dispute strategy in the built environment today. Expect clarity. Expect candor. Expect insights shaped by years on the front lines of some of the toughest engineering and infrastructure projects on the continent.
#RCAAfrica #RCAConference #KeynoteSpeaker

If you operate anywhere in construction, engineering, cost management, or legal strategy, this is a keynote you won’t want to miss.

Over a career spanning renewables, analytics, advanced manufacturing, and high-tech engineering, Frederik has carved out a reputation as a strategic builder, a curious tinkerer, and an executive who turns frontier ideas into reliable megawatts.

Solar Visionary & Former Director of Operations of Solar Capital, Head of Operations for 3E consulting’s Synaptiq platform, and COO of SustainPower Group

Frederik oversaw the deployment and optimisation of utility-scale solar PV plants across Africa and the Middle East.  combining engineering excellence with commercial acuity, and ensuring projects move successfully from FID all the way through to ROI.

Digital & Industry 4.0 Expert

A former Head of Operations for 3E’s SynaptiQ solar-plant optimisation platform, Frederik blends renewable-energy engineering with machine learning, data science, and industrial AI. His background at DataProphet, where he led the Project Management Office, cemented his reputation as an executive who can lead both software development teams and industrial operations with equal agility.

Strategic Thinker with Deep Technical Roots

Armed with a B.Eng in Civil Engineering (University of Pretoria) and an MBA (Stellenbosch University), Frederik navigates effortlessly between boardrooms, control rooms, and construction sites. He is fluent in operational strategy, contract negotiation, EPC oversight, complex technical troubleshooting, and cross-functional leadership.

“Solar, from FID to ROI — Is Solar as Renewable as We Think?”

This is not a talk about feel-good renewables.
It’s a talk about the real economics, real engineering, and real sustainability behind solar — from the vantage point of someone who has actually delivered it on the ground, at scale, across a continent.

Africa has a materials engineering problem. There is a lack of supply and support of the Materials Engineering business.

Many environmental disasters on this continent arise from drilling related failures — they’re caused by corrosion, weld failures, material mis-specification, poor QA, and underlying to this is the absence of accredited testing skills/capacity available in Africa to support local activities.

Until Africa upgrades its materials engineering ecosystem —
🔹 ISO 17025 labs
🔹 Corrosion science
🔹 Physical metallurgy
🔹 Welding integrity
🔹 Failure-analysis capability
— it will keep fighting the same battles with the same outcomes.

Building billion-dollar energy projects without the engineering tools to protect them can not be sustained and is ill advised

This is not optional. This is not a “nice to have.”
This is the difference between safe development and environmental catastrophes.

Africa needs to stop outsourcing its integrity. It is imperative that a local industry in the material engineering eco system is built. This will be better able to provide quick, efficient and more cost effective support for the investments required in Africa.

It’s time to build the expertise, the labs, and the engineering capacity here — on African soil — to assist in holding every project to world-class standards.

If we want safe, reliable, future-proof energy in Africa, the answer is simple:

Start with Fixing materials engineering support to large capital investment projects, and we well on the way to fix everything downstream.

Lucien Matthews has spent three decades in the Material Engineering Industry. His career started with identifying and correcting  the problems caused by lack of consultation with Materials Engineers at the appropriate time!

Lucien started his career not in a boardroom, but standing over furnaces, rolling mills, cryo tanks, and working in metallurgical labs — learning what metals actually do when the textbooks stop talking. While executives mainly talk business strategy, Lucien is also comfortable talking microstructure, fracture surfaces, heat treatment curves and why a weld failed at 2 a.m. on a Saturday.

He took that hands-on grit all the way to the top:

CEO of Columbus Stainless in South Africa, following a period as CEO of the new business, Bahru Stainless in Malaysia, turning startup and struggling operations into efficient, profitable, technically disciplined plants.

He’s led teams through technology disasters, equipment failures, cost blowouts and market chaos — and every time, his approach was the same:

Find the root cause → fix the problem → put systems in place to prevent failures → save the business.

After Failures: Fix the materials → fix the plant → save the business. 

Route for major projects: Select the right materials → appropriate QA control in construction → Deliver successful operating plant.

Today he leads beneficiation at Tharisa, leading a team of  highly skilled an qualified Engineer and Material scientists in beneficiating Tharisa’s minerals.

Taking young metallurgists and engineers and showing them how to turn metallurgical innovation into commercial reality using non conventional approach with conventional technology. Not PowerPoints. Not theory. Real products, real processes, real results.

If Africa needs someone to explain — simply, brutally and brilliantly —
why materials engineering is the difference between safe energy and environmental disaster,
Lucien is already ten years ahead of the conversation.

He’s not just qualified to speak on this.
He’s lived it.
He’s built it.
He’s fixed it when it was broken.

He talks with years of experience and first hand knowledge of the challenges

We look forward to his key note address at the 2^nd RCA Africa Conference March 10^th and 11^th 2026

This is the man who’s pulled off some of the most audacious, complex, hair-raising salvage operations on the planet — from offshore emergencies and heavy-lift challenges to the kind of wreck removals that become documentaries, case studies, and late-night bar stories.

With decades spanning SMIT, Svitzer, and his own powerhouse consultancy Sloane Marine Ltd., Nick has carved out a reputation for courage, command, and creativity in the face of maritime chaos. Whether it’s towing giants, raising wrecks, protecting coastlines, or steering multinational teams through crisis, he brings a level of mastery that can’t be taught — only lived.

And yes… some of those tales come shaken, stirred, and served with a splash of “Sex on the Beach” —
the cocktail, of course.
Because when Captain Sloane tells a story, you can be sure it’s bold, colourful, and best enjoyed with something strong in hand.

At this year’s 2nd RCA Africa Conference, Captain Sloane returns to dazzle us once more — with stories of grit, innovation, near-impossible recoveries, and the kind of maritime magic that only he can deliver.

Brace yourselves.
Nick Sloane is back — and the tides are about to turn.

Jeremy is a dual-qualified lawyer in South Africa and England with an LLM in Shipping Law from the University of Cape Town. With over two decades of experience, he advises ship owners, charterers, traders, insurers and banks across the full spectrum of shipping and international trade matters, including:

⚓ Maritime claims and dispute resolution
⚓ Ship casualties and complex marine incidents
⚓ Shipping finance and commercial transactions
⚓ International trade & commodities
⚓ Regulation of port and offshore activities in South Africa

Jeremy has been involved in many of South Africa’s most high-profile ship casualties over the past 20 years, bringing deep expertise in analysing technical evidence and collaborating closely with multidisciplinary experts to establish cause of loss or damage in legal proceedings.

Based in Cape Town and known across Africa’s fabrication, oil & gas, and manufacturing sectors, Robert brings over 30 years of global experience diagnosing, troubleshooting, and transforming welding and gas-process performance. From his long tenure with Air Liquide as an international technical troubleshooter to his leadership today at Weldfind Solutions International, Robert has become the man industries call when the weld must be perfect, the deadline is immovable, and failure isn’t an option.

As an International Senior Expert in Welding & Cutting Processes, Robert has trained, uplifted, and rescued fabrication teams across continents — mastering AWS standards, elevating quality systems, and translating complex engineering challenges into clear, actionable solutions. His work spans heavy fabrication, precision machining, industrial gases, advanced welding technologies, and the ever-evolving world of materials engineering.

This year at the 2nd RCA Africa Conference, Robert takes the stage with a keynote that promises to be as gripping as it is enlightening. Alongside unpacking the future of laser welding, he will delve into one of the most catastrophic weld failures in history — the Alexander L. Kielland platform collapse, a tragedy that reshaped global offshore safety and engineering standards. With Robert’s depth of expertise, expect a masterful breakdown of what went wrong, why it mattered, and what modern engineers must learn from this defining moment.

Whether he’s exploring breakthrough technologies, dissecting historical failures, or igniting conversations on engineering excellence, Robert delivers it all with clarity, humour, and the unmistakable confidence of a man who’s solved problems most of us only read about.

Get ready for an electrifying, knowledge-rich session from a true master of the craft.
Robert Lawrence is here to spark ideas, fuse knowledge, and fire up the engineering community.

As Africa continues its trajectory of industrial growth, infrastructural development, and blue-economy expansion, Sheena brings practical experience and understanding of the legal frameworks shaping the continent’s maritime sector. Her work addresses the key challenges facing the industry—from regulatory harmonisation to port efficiency and risk management—and explores the solutions needed to support Africa’s maritime development in the coming decades.

Her approach is practical, analytical, and forward-thinking, communicated in a way that is accessible to diverse audiences—from corporate clients to policymakers and industry professionals. Sheena’s work helps stakeholders understand how maritime law affects commercial operations and regulatory compliance in practice.

Sheena’s Leadership Roles in Key Maritime Bodies include:

• EXCO Member – Maritime Law Association of South Africa (MLASA)
• Outgoing Chairperson – MLASA Cape Chapter
• Current Member, Former Treasurer & EXCO Member – WISTA South Africa (Women’s International Shipping & Trade Association)

As Africa’s coastal infrastructure develops, trade corridors expand, and blue-economy initiatives gain traction, maritime law continues to evolve in response. Her perspective is informed by years of practical experience in the sector.

Dr. Kalenda has spent his career investigating high-impact failures across the mining,  manufacturing and private sectors—translating technical evidence into clear narratives that support root-cause analysis, liability assessments, risk modelling, and decision-making. His expertise bridges advanced metallurgical science with the practical realities of safety, compliance, and asset protection.

While grounded in deep technical knowledge—ranging from alloy behaviour to microstructural analysis—Kalenda communicates in a way that empowers non-engineers to understand what happened, why it matters, and what it will cost. His work helps organisations reduce downtime, prevent repeat failures, and strengthen the defensibility of their technical and legal strategies.  It also highlights the intersection between engineering investigations, insurance claims, and legal processes, emphasizing the need for robust evidence preservation, standardized root cause analysis methodologies, and effective communication between technical and non-technical stakeholders.