HomeServices and SolutionsElectricity sector policy and ...

11. Electricity

ELECTRICITY SECTOR POLICY AND LEGISLATION FRAMEWORK

A meeting of the permanent representatives’ committee of the African Union held in Addis Ababa, 15 may 2018, captured the what is required for the development of the African Energy market succinctly as follow:

The energy sector in Africa continues to face challenges that include low generation capacity and efficiency, high costs, unstable and unreliable energy supplies and low access rates, amongst others. These challenges have adversely affected socio-economic development on the continent. With the demand for modern energy consistently on the rise, there is a critical need to address policy, investment, market and technical barriers to energy sector development on the continent. The development of regional energy infrastructure and market is one of the key strategies to address these gaps and barriers. In the energy sector, for instance, a harmonised regulatory framework at the continental and regional levels will facilitate the creation of an African energy market, enhance private sector participation in the energy sector and mobilise the huge financial and technical resources required to provide modern energy access to all Africans as stipulated in the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and United Nations (UN) Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development (African Union Meeting May 2018 Box & Ababa, 2018).

The provision of low cost and reliable electricity supply is critical for the growth and development of African countries. Energy sector policy and legislation framework: specifically, the addressing of the effects of climate change and the associated transition to a larger share of renewable energy (RE) based generation is an important challenge being faced by many governments around the world, in Africa’s fragmented sector, it is a very complex challenge. It also presents opportunities for countries and their government to collaborate and find best solutions for Africa and its terrain (Chapman, McLellan, & Tezuka, 2016).

Poor (financial/technical) performance, resulting in poor quality of supply and service, and an inability to meet growing electricity demand;

Insufficient managerial and technical skills to do the job;

Lack of maintenance of existing facilities leading to reliability problems;

Inappropriate tariffs, often resulting from political interference, with tariffs below marginal costs; and

Inadequate revenue collection mechanisms, and therefore credit unworthy businesses.

Our experts are well positioned to facilitate the design and harmonisation of Energy Policies and Legislative frameworks to enable countries to provide universal access to reliable, modern, affordable and sustainable energy. The above points represent a general view of challenges. Embedded in our delivery model, is market analysis to ensure that our teams have contextual understanding of current and emerging properties of a country’s energy and power sector. It is our prime commitment to understand and embrace the political and economic context of each country as we provide advisory services.

With contextual understanding of each market, its regulatory framework, the prevailing institution frameworks, our consultants will be able to guide utilities and governments to tailor what is suitable for their markets.

POLICY DESIGN