The Plenary of the Regional Association of Energy Regulations for Eastern and Southern Africa (RAERESA) has bemoaned the scarcity and high tariffs for electricity in the COMESA despite the region being endowed with huge energy resources.
The Chairperson of RAERESA and also Director General of the Energy Regulatory Authority Commission in the Republic of Kenya., Mr Kaburu Mwirichia, said energy is too scarce and expensive.
“This could be attributed to the fact that the region’s energy resources and infrastructure are still under developed, but the high cost of energy in most Member States is an impediment to regional economic growth and competitiveness in national, regional and international trade,” Mr Mwirichia said.
“This could be attributed to the fact that the region’s energy resources and infrastructure are still under developed, but the high cost of energy in most Member States is an impediment to regional economic growth and competitiveness in national, regional and international trade,” Mr Mwirichia said.
He added that the inadequate energy infrastructure such as electricity transmission and distribution networks, and petroleum and gas pipelines, have also led to a lower electricity access rate.
“For instance, the average electricity cost in the region is around US $0.10 to US $0.12 per kilowatt per hour and the access rate is around 35 percent. Per capita electricity consumption for the region is also low at around 475 kilowatt-hours per person. Insufficient investment in the energy sector, increased demand for economic growth and inefficient use of the available energy systems are among the factors that are contributing to the existing energy challenges of the COMESA region,” he said.
He said that integrating synergies on energy regulatory issues would necessitate the establishment of energy regulatory associations at the regional and continental level.
“As we meet today we need to support the development of effective energy regulation through facilitating the harmonization of regulatory policies, exchange of information and sharing of experiences amongst energy regulators,” he concluded.
He was speaking during the opening session of the third Annual General Meeting of RAERESA at Fringila in Zambia on 18 September 2012.
Speaking at the same function, Assistant Secretary-General, Ambassador Nagla El-Hussainy said economic infrastructure is an important component in the process of achieving COMESA’s goals in economic integration and raising the standards of living for the people of Eastern and Southern Africa.
Ambassador El-Hussainy said it is imperative that supply side constraint hat impede the growth of the economies of the Member States are addressed and the capabilities of the productive sectors are mobilized through providing adequate physical infrastructure in the areas of energy, transport and communications in order to enhance the competitiveness in internal and external markets.
“It is recognized that lack of adequate regional energy infrastructure in the region leads to high production costs due to high energy prices and high energy losses, which in turn culminate into low levels of competitiveness of the countries in the local, regional and global markets. Therefore, bridging the energy infrastructure gap has been identified as one of the main priorities of COMESA in infrastructure development,” she said.
She said the role of RAERESA is pivotal in facilitating the trade in energy services in the region through creating an enabling environment for investments in generation, transmission and distribution, and also improving regulatory transparency.
She called on RAERESA to be committed to work towards the harmonization of the rules as they pertain to energy and promote good governance in order to brand the energy sector in the COMESA region as an investors’ friendly sector and also to improve the services of the existing energy infrastructure through enhanced efficiency.
“It is, therefore, crucial that RAERESA focuses on capacity building of energy regulators, facilitation of information sharing among the regulators; and cooperation,” she said.