Energy Policy & Regulation

London, United Kingdom: Kenya ranks second in Africa for having a progressive electricity regulatory regime that promotes connectivity for its citizens and encourages investments in the sector, according to the 2021 Electricity Regulatory Index (ERI) report published and released by the African Development Bank at the just concluded 23rd Africa Energy Forum, in London, United Kingdom. “This is a testament that we have made some good progress in improving the electricity regulatory environment in the country.

Over time, we have taken deliberate steps to make it easier for energy investors in the country to do business and it's paying off, we have also adopted a participatory approach where electricity customers have open access to information on regulatory processes and decisions resulting to robust regulatory environment." said the Authority's Director General, Daniel Kiptoo on the sidelines of the Africa energy forum. In this year's report, Uganda, ranked highest out of the 43 countries surveyed.

Last year, Kenya ranked fifth in the survey behind Uganda, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zambia. This year's ranking was dominated by East African countries with Tanzania emerging third. Namibia and Egypt came in fourth and fifth respectively The ERI Survey measures and tracks indicators that reflect the performance of the regulatory system in African power markets. It highlights key areas in regulatory design and practice that require improvements and reforms.

It considers 18 indicators categorized into three sub-indexes. These are the regulatory governance index, regulatory substance index, and regulatory outcome index. Indicators tracked include independence, accountability, transparency of decisions, economic and technical Regulation, licencing framework, Renewable energy development, open access to information among others. The survey, helps countries in Africa improve their electricity regulatory environment by benchmarking with others on the continent.