Why Uganda’s Electricity Sector Maintains Lead in Africa as the Best-Regulated
Eng. Ziria Tibalwa Waako, the Chief Executive Officer at ERA with officials from African Development Bank
Since 2018, Uganda’s electricity sector has been consecutively Africa’s best regulated across a number of key standards, according to the African Development Bank’s Electricity Regulatory Index. The Neighboring Kenya and Tanzania, as well as Namibia and Egypt followed in better performance.
The last year’s Electricity Regulatory Index, an annual report, covered 43 countries, up from 36 in the previous edition, and assessed their impact on the performance of their electricity sectors.
The index covered 3 countries in the North Africa region; 14 in West Africa; 6 in Central Africa; 7 in East Africa; and 13 in the Southern Africa region.
“Uganda topping the rankings consecutively for four years comes as no surprise to many, as the regulator spends significant time on consultation and analysis, including regulatory impact assessments of key interventions and follow-through to ensure full implementation,” said Wale Shonibare, African Development Bank Director for Energy Financial Solutions, Policy and Regulation about the recent performance.
Thanks to the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), a government agency that regulates, licenses, and supervises the generation, transmission, distribution, sale, export, and importation of electrical energy in Uganda.
By extension, Uganda’s Electricity Regulatory Authority remains the best electricity sector regulator in Africa, for four years running, according to the AfDB.
ERA was established in 2000, in accordance with the Electricity Act of 1999, as an agency of the Uganda Ministry of Energy, Oil and Mineral Development.
The parastatal is governed by a five-member board, also known as the “Authority”.
The day-to-day affairs of the agency are supervised by the chief executive officer. Organizations and committees within the scope of the ERA include the Rural Electrification Board and the Electricity Consumer Committees.
One of the responsibilities of the agency is the issuance of licenses to electricity wiremen/wire women in Uganda.
A member of the Authority also chairs an Installations Permit Committee, which s responsible for interviewing applicants for installation permits, processing of new permits, renewal of permits and undertaking disciplinary measures against permit holders who violate the terms and conditions of their permits.
Among the previous reports key highlights are that regulatory independence is one sub-indicator where African countries have room to improve: in 93% of sampled countries, governments, and stakeholders exercise influence over regulatory authorities.
In terms of regulatory substance, other participating countries scored lowest on adequacy of their tariff setting and frameworks, as well as licensing frameworks when compared with best practice.
A third of countries surveyed indicated they lack methodologies to determine tariffs; another 40% rely on tariff methodologies that do not include key attributes such as automatic tariff adjustment and tariff indexation mechanisms and schedule for major tariff reviews.
Since its launch in 2018, the Electricity Regulatory Index has highlighted aspects of electricity regulation that need reform, identified appropriate areas for intervention, and encouraged stakeholders to be proactive in addressing challenges.
Since then, the index has been widely adopted by regulators and other stakeholders across the continent as a benchmark for the regulatory environment as well as for ongoing reforms.
The competence of the leadership team at ERA has also consolidated the electricity regulator’s excellent performance.
The management team is headed by Eng. Ziria Tibalwa Waako, the Chief Executive Officer a position she assumed on 23rd March 2017. She provides strategic direction to the ERA Secretariat to ensure that the organization effectively delivers on its mandate efficiently, a task she has executed in line with ERA’s vision of being a Recognized Regulator in the promotion of Sustainable Electricity Supply for Socio-Economic Transformation.
ERA has since its establishment presided over a steadily growing sub-Sector that has eliminated load shedding due to increased generation and accelerated Electricity Access for End-Users.
To ensure Sustainable Electricity Supply, ERA has over the years created a conducive regulatory environment and incentives aimed at diversifying the Country’s Generation Mix.
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