Last week, the Power Futures Lab, supported by GET.transform, hosted a Peer Review and Learning Network (PRLN) dissemination workshop. 14 African Electricity Regulators (CEOs) and executives of regional regulatory bodies and power pools were in attendance at the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town.
The PRLN is an experiential learning programme aimed at enhancing the leadership and managerial capability of African electricity regulators, promoting the credibility, transparency and robustness of regulatory decisions.
The workshop disseminated some of the learnings from the countries reviewed to date, Uganda, Namibia and Ghana, for the benefit of the new CEOs. It further involved discussions about IPP procurement and auction experiences which can be ideally structured routes to attracting renewable energy investments on the continent. Regulators play an important role in creating the conditions required to achieve the desired energy sector goals.
The regulator CEOs also spent a site visit at Scatec, a leading control and monitoring center for renewable energy companies. The experience gave the regulators an opportunity to engage with innovative technologies and to explore how those could be adapted to their environment.
Further contributions to the programme were provided by the African Development Bank (AfDB), African Union Commission (AUC), Regulatory Energy Transition Accelerator (RETA), African Forum for Utility Regulators (AFUR), Regional Electricity Regulators Association (RERA), and the Energy Regulators Association of East Africa (EREA).
The participating countries which included Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Zambia, Eswatini, Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, unanimously expressed interest in participating in Phase 2 of the PRLN which is set to commence in the second half of 2024.
