Sub-Saharan Africa has been ranked 47% for electricity tariff setting, according to the December 2022 Global Electricity Regulatory Index (GERI) by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank.
The report also showed that electricity regulators in Sub-Saharan Africa rank 69% for having a developed and well-documented tariff-setting methodology.
Meanwhile, the region’s regulators rank 45% for having a tariff methodology that includes an automatic tariff adjustment. In the same vein, the region ranks 48% for regulators that include a schedule for major tariff reviews.
Open access to information: The report also examined how regions are doing regarding open access. Sub-Saharan Africa’s regulators rank 74% for open access to information, while the region ranks 93% for having electricity regulators with functioning websites.
For frequency of website updates (usually once a week at the least), the region’s regulators rank 51%. Meanwhile, in terms of electricity regulators having communications officers in charge of their websites, SSA’s regulators rank 81%.
Transparency of decisions: Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 72% in the transparency of electricity regulators’ decisions. The report also examined if all decisions taken by regulatory agencies are accessible to the general public, and in this regard, the SSA region ranked 76%.
The region’s regulators ranked 88% for providing explanations for their major decisions. Also, the region’s regulators ranked 67% for having laws that promote the voluntary or mandatory publication of regulatory documents and decisions.
Regulators’ accountability: The report ranked electricity regulators in the SSA region 68% for accountability. Also, the region’s regulators ranked 95% for having legal obligations to produce annual reports on their activities.
The regulators in the region ranked 98% for having a formal mechanism that allows regulated utilities or other parties to challenge or contest regulatory decisions.
However, the regulators in the region ranked 40% for having either the presidency, power sector minister or parliament to report directly to.
Financial independence: The report ranked regulators in the Sub-Saharan Africa region at 61% for financial independence of electricity regulators.
- It further stated that in the SSA region, regulators got 50% of their funding from fees levied on utilities, 23% from penalty fees, and 27% from the government budget.
- The region ranks 98% for having regulators’ financial budgets stated in established legislation.
- However, the report ranked regulators in the region 48% for salary level when compared to salaries of utility workers within the SSA region.
Decision-making independence: The report ranks electricity regulators in the SSA region at 71% for independence in decision-making and 62% for approving electricity tariffs.
The regulators were ranked 43% for issuing and amending licenses and 62% for resolving disputes between companies and their customers. Electricity regulators in the region also rank 86% for their capacity to make decisions that are legally binding or intended as advisory recommendations.
For the record: The GERI report says that electricity regulators in the sub-Saharan African region regulate the following sectors at the following rates:
- Electricity at 93%
- Natural gas at 34%
- Petroleum at 34%
- Telecommunication at 12%
- Transport at 5%
- Others (post, coal) at 5%
Meanwhile, none of the regulators in the region exercises any regulatory powers over water, sanitation, and heating.