The African Development Bank produces an annual survey on the performance of electricity regulatory bodies in African countries. The survey culminates in the Electricity Regulatory Index which measures the level of development in the electricity sector regulatory frameworks in Africa against international standards and best practices. The report covered 43 African countries in 2021.

The Index consists of three sub-indices:

1. The Regulatory Governance Index (RGI): It is concerned with the existence and content of electricity sector regulations.
2. The Regulatory Substance Index (RSI): it is concerned with the level of implementation of regulations.
3. The Regulatory Outcome Index (ROI): It offers insights into how the actions of regulators have affected the performance of the sector.

Findings of the survey show that Uganda is the top performing country at 0.823 followed by Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia and Egypt in the Electricity Regulatory Index 2021. This position has been held since 2018, a sign of constant improvement in the regulatory regime in the electricity sector owing to Uganda’s liberalization of the energy sector.

The findings further reveal that averagely, in 67% of African countries, end user tariffs are not in line with costs of operations of utility companies. Furthermore, access to long term funding to increase universal access to electricity is still a major barrier. Regulatory independence remains weak in 93 percent of the surveyed countries, where Governments and stakeholders significantly influence regulatory authorities. 

Read more: https://africa-energy-portal.org/reports/electricity-regulatory-index-eri-africa-2021-edition