Sadc reviews Zera ops

Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority was last week subjected to a peer review process by fellow energy regulators in the region under an exercise meant to enhance regulatory effectiveness and its impact across the Africa continent. Zera said the process was conducted by chief executives of energy regulators from Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi who were in the country as it was Zimbabwe’s turn to undergo the exercise known as the African Electricity Regulator Peer Review and Learning Network.

“Under this phase of the Peer Learning Network the regulatory systems in Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe have already been reviewed and during the course of this week it has been Zimbabwe’s turn. The peer review commenced on July 22 and was completed today,” said Zera on Friday.

The peer review network team to Zimbabwe was accompanied by Mr Elijah Sichone, the executive secretary of the Regional Electricity Regulators Association of Southern Africa, which is an organ of the Southern African Development Community.

During the Zimbabwe chapter of the review exercise, CEOs of the regulatory institutions that form the Peer Learning Network held discussions with various stakeholders including senior Government officials, Zera board members and management, utility firms, private power developers, consumer groups and the Press.

Zera said the review team last week assessed regulatory governance, regulatory substance and regulatory impact in case of Zimbabwe.
However, Zera said the approach of the peer learning network is not for the project to become a benchmarking exercise, but to rather be a collegial though robust and in-depth sharing of information and experiences through which mutual learning can take place.

Over the last decade more than 20 independent electricity regulatory bodies have been established across Africa with the underlying expectation that they would create a more enabling environment for the attraction of investment into infrastructure sectors. These were meant to ensure sustained viability of infrastructure utility companies while protecting consumers through competitive pricing and enhanced quality in infrastructure service provision.

“As most of the infrastructure regulatory institutions across Africa have now been in existence for several years, this is an opportune time to review and assess experiences and performance,” Zera said.

The local energy regulatory authority said review findings are then used as the basis for sharing knowledge and as an aid in the shaping of future infrastructure policy across the African continent.

While the team has not issued its final report on the Zimbabwe, Professor Anton Eberhard, head of the management programme in infrastructure reform and regulation at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, said that the process was a learning curve for upcoming regulators like Zera.

“Electricity is a significant challenge across the continent and institutions such as Zera should effectively play their part in creating the environment that will allow the capacity and network expansions that are required to meet our development and human progress ambitions,” Professor Eberhard said last week.