The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), have convened a workshop that has brought together regulators and experts from across the continent to validate the 2024 Electricity Regulatory Index (ERI) Report.
AfDB launched the Electricity Regulatory Index for Africa in 2018 to assess and track progress in electricity sector regulation across the continent. The ERI serves as a diagnostic tool, identifying key areas for improvement and reform in regulatory frameworks. It evaluates countries based on three main pillars: Regulatory Governance (assessing legal and institutional structures), Regulatory Substance (measuring how well regulators implement policies), and Regulatory Outcomes (gauging the impact of regulations from the perspective of power utilities and consumers). This country-by-country assessment helps drive better regulatory practices, enhancing efficiency and investment in Africa’s electricity sector.
Speaking during the engagement, Mr Daniel Kiptoo, EPRAs Director-General, said: “EPRA is committed to ensuring that Kenya’s energy sector remains efficient, sustainable, and accessible to all. Our participation in the Electricity Regulatory Index over the past five cycles has driven significant regulatory improvements. Through the Index, we have enacted key reforms, including the Energy Act 2019, strengthened tariff and energy efficiency frameworks, streamlined licensing, enhanced transparency, and improved consumer protection.”
In a speech read on his behalf, Dr. Kennedy Mbekeani, Director General of East Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office at the African Development Bank said: “The ERI diagnoses the regulatory landscape and weaknesses of the 44 participating countries and benchmarks them against international best practices and also provides appropriate recommendations to address identified gaps. Its impact has reached the global scale where in 2022, the ERI was globalized through the World Bank Global Electricity Regulatory Index (GERI), developed using the ERI methodology. Thanks to the Index, there is now a regulatory benchmarking which brings out key regulatory trends across continents.”
In 2022, ERI ranked Kenya among the top five countries with well-developed regulatory frameworks, alongside Uganda, Egypt, Senegal, and Ghana. Currently, the Authority is developing regulations to facilitate adoption of modern energy technologies such as Battery Energy Storage Systems, Green Hydrogen and Electric Mobility.
