The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE)

What The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) does

The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) is a non-profit voluntary professional association founded in 1909 and headquartered at SAIEE House, 18A Gill Street, Observatory, Johannesburg. It serves electrical and electronic engineers, technologists, technicians, students, and affiliated professionals across South Africa, operating through nine regional centres, multiple specialised sections (Power, Electronics, Telecommunications, Nuclear), and a network of student chapters at universities. SAIEE is recognised as a Voluntary Association by the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), positioning it as a statutory conduit for professional registration and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) compliance under the Engineering Professions Act of 2000.

SAIEE's product portfolio spans publications (the monthly wattnow magazine distributed to all members and the quarterly SAIEE Africa Research Journal, the only peer-reviewed journal in the local electrical engineering sector, co-published with IEEE), training services (the SAIEE Training Academy offering CPD-accredited courses on topics including AI in 5G, incident investigation, and power electronics, delivered online via MS Teams and Zoom and in-person), and event programming (SAUPEC academic conference, SPEC power electronics conference in partnership with IEEE, Bernard Price Memorial Lectures, and chapter-level webinars and seminars). Supporting assets include the SAIEE Historical Section Museum, SAIEE TV on YouTube, and a forthcoming digital platform comprising a new CRM system, redesigned website, and mobile application expected in 2026.

Revenue is generated through four primary streams: recurring membership subscriptions across grades (Student, Associate, Member, Senior Member, Fellow), transactional training academy course fees (member vs non-member pricing tiers ranging from R4,900 to R14,697 per course), event and conference registrations (some free, some paid), and publication-related income (including a Taylor & Francis scholarly publishing partnership signed October 2024). Corporate partnerships with ACTOM, Comtest, Old Mutual, Schneider Electric, WEG, Aberdare, Instrotech and others provide sponsorship support. The organisation is member-governed, employs approximately 44 staff, and reports to elected office bearers without external investment backing.

Name

The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE)

Legal name

South African Institute of Electrical Engineers

Website

https://saiee.org.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

1909

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE), founded in 1909, is a non-profit professional association serving electrical engineers, technologists, technicians, and students in South Africa through membership services, CPD-accredited training, publications, and industry conferences. It is recognised as a Voluntary Association by ECSA, enabling statutory professional registration pathways for its members.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Engineering Association Services

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAAALAM

Project, Quality & Operations (PMP PDUs, Six Sigma, Quality CE)

Education/Adult & Continuing Education/Professional Licensure & Continuing Professional Education (CE/CPE)

Keywords

• Professional engineering association
• Electrical engineering membership
• CPD training courses
• Peer-reviewed engineering publications
• Engineering conferences

Headquarters

HQ city

Johannesburg

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership subscriptions from various grades including Student, Associate, Member, Senior Member, and Fellow. Membership fees fund the association's operations and member services.
2. Training Academy Courses: Online and in-person professional development courses offered through the SAIEE Training Academy. Fees vary for members vs non-members, with courses like Incident Investigation priced at R4900 for members and R7349 for non-members.
3. Events and Conferences: Revenue from conferences including SAUPEC, SPEC, webinars, and professional events. Some events are free while others have registration fees.
4. Publications: Revenue from the wattnow magazine and SAIEE Africa Research Journal. The magazine is distributed to all members; research papers are published through Taylor & Francis partnership.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

SAIEE is a voluntary professional association that provides membership services, CPD-accredited training courses, peer-reviewed publications (wattnow Magazine and Africa Research Journal), conferences (SAUPEC, SPEC), webinars, and mentorship to electrical engineering professionals and students in South Africa. Its offerings support statutory professional registration through the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) and continuing professional development across the electrical engineering profession.

Product overview

The SAIEE is a professional voluntary association for electrical engineers offering a portfolio of publications, training services, and professional development programs. Its core offerings include the wattnow Magazine and SAIEE Africa Research Journal (publications), the SAIEE Training Academy (professional courses with CPD credits), SAIEE TV (YouTube educational content), and event series including SAUPEC and SPEC conferences. The institute also provides membership services with multiple grades, a library of technical resources, and a new digital platform including CRM and a forthcoming mobile app. All offerings are oriented toward advancing the electrical engineering profession in South Africa through education, networking, and knowledge sharing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• wattnow Magazine: Magazine addressing interesting subjects in Electrical Engineering such as robotics, rockets, automotive developments, astronomy, nanotechnology, bioengineering, telecoms and other brand new technologies. Launched on 16 October 2006.
• SAIEE Africa Research Journal
• SAIEE Training Academy
• SAIEE TV

Products and services

• SAIEE Training Academy Professional training division providing online and in-person CPD-accredited courses for engineers and technicians, including topics such as Incident Investigation and Application of AI in 5G and Beyond. Partners with ECSA for certification and validation.
• SAIEE Membership Services Professional membership offering with multiple grades including Student, Associate, Member, Senior Member, and Fellow, providing members with publications, events, training discounts, professional development, and networking benefits.
• wattnow Magazine Monthly magazine covering subjects in Electrical Engineering including robotics, rockets, automotive developments, astronomy, nanotechnology, bioengineering, and telecoms. Distributed to all SAIEE members.
• SAIEE Africa Research Journal Accredited, peer-reviewed research journal published quarterly, covering all fields of electrical engineering. The only peer-reviewed journal in the local electrical engineering sector, published in partnership with IEEE.
• SAIEE Transactions Peer-reviewed scholarly publications containing technical papers and research from SAIEE members and affiliates.
• SAIEE TV YouTube channel hosting recorded lectures, webinars, memorial lectures, AGMs, and technical presentations from SAIEE events and educational content.
• Bernard Price Memorial Lectures Annual memorial lecture series featuring prominent speakers on topics including intelligent systems, carbon capture, internet technology, AI, and power quality.
• SPEC - Southern Power Electronics Conference IEEE annual conference hosted by SAIEE featuring research presentations on power electronics, converters, machines, renewable energy integration, and related topics.
• SAUPEC - South African Universities Power Engineering Conference Academic conference bringing together researchers and students in power engineering to present work, network, and exchange ideas.
• SAIEE Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Formal system for recording professional development activities for engineering practitioners, required for ECSA registration renewal. Includes mentorship programs and professional registration support.
• AMEU/SAIEE Joint Webinar Series Collaborative webinar series covering topics such as digital transformation of electrical utilities, distribution systems, and sustainable business models for municipalities.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Taylor & Francis GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 October 2024MOU signed on 8 October 2024 for scholarly publishing. SAIEE consolidates member white papers into books for T&F review and potential publication. Authors enter direct publishing agreements with T&F.
• Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerECSA is the statutory body that registers professional engineers, technologists, technicians, and certified engineers. SAIEE is recognised as a Voluntary Association by ECSA, enabling professional registration pathways and CPD validation for members.
• IEEEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partnership with IEEE for joint publications including the SAIEE/IEEE Africa Research Journal and collaboration on conferences like SPEC (IEEE Southern Power Electronics Conference).
• Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner association for international engineering standards and professional development alignment.
• Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities Southern Africa (AMEU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint webinar series on electrical utilities topics including 'DX Electrical Utilities of the Future' covering 6 sessions in August 2022.
• Cigré Southern AfricaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner association for knowledge sharing in power system engineering.
• ACTOMminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCorporate partner providing products and services in protection and control.
• ComtestminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCorporate partner providing measurement and instrumentation solutions.
• Old MutualminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCorporate partner in financial services.
• EskomminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHistorical association with Eskom's historical collection. Several SAIEE museum artifacts are on loan to Eskom display locations.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Engineers Australia: Australia's national engineering professional body with chartered status, CPD, training, and policy advocacy. Comparable in operating model and revenue mix (membership dues + training + events + publications), though operating at much greater scale and across all engineering disciplines.
• National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE): U.S.-based professional society representing licensed professional engineers across all disciplines. NSPE offers a directly comparable membership-plus-CPD-plus-publications model and competes for similar continuing education spend from employed engineers.
• IEEE: The world's largest technical professional organization for electrical, electronics, and computer engineering. IEEE co-publishes the SAIEE Africa Research Journal and partners on the SPEC conference, sharing the same member value proposition (publications, conferences, standards, sections) at much greater global scale.
• Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET): UK-headquartered global professional body for engineers and technicians with chartered registration, CPD, publications, and training. IET is a listed strategic partner of SAIEE and provides the closest international analogue for a multi-disciplinary engineering professional society, though it covers all engineering disciplines versus SAIEE's electrical-only focus.

Others

• Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA): South Africa's statutory regulator for engineering professionals under the Engineering Professions Act of 2000. ECSA registers ~30,000 persons and recognizes SAIEE as a Voluntary Association; ECSA is not a direct competitor but is the regulator that grants SAIEE its core competitive position and CPD validation authority.
• Engineers Without Borders International: Global network of engineering organizations focused on development and humanitarian engineering. Relevant adjacent peer as a membership-based engineering association with chapters and volunteer structures, though mission-distinct from SAIEE's CPD/registration focus.
• SARChI (South African Research Chairs Initiative): South Africa's Department of Science and Innovation / NRF research chair program at universities. Indirect peer as a fellow electrical-engineering knowledge producer that draws on overlapping academic talent and contributes papers to the SAIEE Africa Research Journal.

Regional players

• Cigré Southern Africa: Southern African chapter of global Cigré, focused on power system engineering knowledge sharing. Cigré SA is a listed SAIEE partner for power systems and overlaps materially with SAIEE's Power Section membership value proposition.
• Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities of Southern Africa (AMEU): Southern African municipal electricity utility industry body. AMEU co-hosts webinar series with SAIEE (e.g., 'DX Electrical Utilities of the Future') and targets a closely adjacent audience of utility-side electrical engineers and managers.

Direct peers

• South African Institute of Civil Engineers (SAICE): Voluntary professional association for civil engineering professionals in South Africa. SAICE mirrors SAIEE's structure (membership grades, CPD, publications, regional branches) and shares the same regulatory relationship with ECSA, providing the closest same-country, same-model peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SAIEE
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCDi8Lpkrk3LirnaidRLIrIA
• Facebookfacebook.com/saieeorg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-south-african-institute-of-electrical-engineers-saiee

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE)