For the fourth year in a row, Uganda’s electricity sector is the best regulated in Africa by a number of key parameters, according to the African Development Bank’s 2021 Electricity Regulatory Index.

Other high performing countries include East African neighbors Kenya and Tanzania, as well as Namibia and Egypt.

The Electricity Regulatory Index 2021, 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 three 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.

“The unprecedented participation of so many countries shows the commitment to strengthen the regulatory environment of the countries in order to improve the performance of the respective power sectors,” said Dr Kevin Kariuki, AfDB Vice President for electricity, energy, climate and ecology. Growth.

Among the highlights of the 2021 report is that regulatory independence is a sub-indicator where African countries can improve: in 93% of the countries in the sample, governments and stakeholders have influence over regulatory authorities. In terms of regulatory substance, participating countries scored lowest on the adequacy of their pricing and frameworks, as well as licensing frameworks against best practice.

According to the report, average performance in economic regulation has continued to decline since 2018. A third of the countries surveyed indicated that they lack methodologies for determining tariffs; Another 40 percent rely on tariff methodologies that do not include key attributes such as automatic tariff adjustment and tariff indexation mechanisms and the timing of major tariff revisions.

Wale Shonibare, AfDB Director for Energy Financial Solutions, Policy and Regulation, praised the best performing country.

“Uganda topping the rankings consecutively for four years is not a surprise to many, as the regulator spends a lot of time on consultation and analysis, including regulatory impact assessments of key interventions and the follow-up to ensure full implementation, ”he said.

External stakeholders also viewed the results of the report positively.

Eng Abel Didier Tella, Managing Director of the Association of Power Utilities of Africa, said: “It is interesting that the utilities in most of the top performing countries on the Electricity Regulatory Index are rated on their national stock exchanges, which requires respect for transparency in information sharing and good governance practices. “

Since its launch in 2018, the Electricity Regulatory Index has highlighted aspects of electricity regulation that require reform, identified appropriate focus areas, 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.