LUSAKA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Africa's largest trading bloc, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Tuesday launched a new regional initiative aimed at enhancing the sustainability of the electricity sector in eastern and southern Africa.
The 1.5 million U.S. dollars Regional Harmonization of Regulatory Frameworks and Tools for Improved Electricity Regulation in COMESA initiative will try to achieve its objective through harmonized regulatory frameworks. It will be financed by the AfDB and executed by COMESA.
A statement released after the launch at the COMESA secretariat in Lusaka, the Zambia capital, said that the initiative will aim at effective, transparent, uniform and enforceable regulatory frameworks in the region with the ultimate objective of stimulating cross-border electricity trade and improved energy access in the region.
COMESA Secretary-General Chileshe Kapwepwe said the initiative will support in establishing clear principles, rules, processes and standards to enhance monitoring of progress of the electricity sector's development.
"Under-developed regulatory frameworks and the absence of a framework for monitoring progress complicates implementation modalities and inhibits investment decision on electricity infrastructure projects," she said.
She noted that the current electricity access in the COMESA region stands at 60 percent, leaving almost half of the population lacking access to electricity, adding that this was hindering the region's economic growth, with underdeveloped and underfunded energy infrastructure leading to low levels of electrification as well as unreliable energy supply.
The challenges, she said, needed to be addressed to urgently unlock the region's full economic potential, adding that it was impossible to achieve sustainable development without adequate investment in electricity infrastructure.
Raubil Durowoju, the AfDB Country Manager for Zambia, commended COMESA member states for their commitments to regional integration initiatives and advancing energy infrastructure in the region.
He said a consistent and coordinated approach to addressing key regional energy infrastructure deficit supported by relevant institutional, policy and regulatory reforms at the regional level will be required to achieve a fully integrated competitive and harmonized electricity market in Africa.
"While the AfDB continues to finance key regional power inter-connectors across the continent to boost regional electricity trade, the bank is equally committed to complementing that effort with soft infrastructure initiatives on harmonization of policy and regulatory frameworks," he said.
According to the statement, the project will comprise three components namely the elaboration and adoption of regional electricity regulatory principles and regulatory and key performance indicators, harmonized comparison of electricity tariffs and cost reflectivity assessment framework tool, and the development of an information and database management system. ■