Addis Ababa, Wednesday, March 4, 2020: Energy regulatory authorities in countries that are members of the COMESA Regional Association of Energy Regulators for Eastern and Southern Africa (RAERESA) will be going through peer review to ensure their operations are bench-marked against regional best practices

The first peer review is being conducted this week, from 4 – 6 March 2010 on the Ethiopia Energy Authority (EEA). The findings will be presented to the RAERESA Annual General Meeting (AGM) which will take place on Thursday and Friday this week in Addis Ababa.

A select team of energy experts from 13 countries that are members of RAERESA will be conducting peer reviews on the regulatory authority of the Member State that will be hosting the AGM of the regional association of regulators.

Member countries of RAERESA are those that have established energy regulatory authorities. These are Ethiopia, Burundi, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Chief Executive Officer of RAERESA, Dr Mohamedain Elnasr said the peer reviews of energy regulatory authorities will enhance knowledge in regional best practice in regulating regional energy markets as well as strengthen co-operation with the other regulators within the region.

“It is envisaged that a sustained peer review process in the region will result in significant benefits for the region such as capacity building, information and experience exchange relating to promotion of renewable energy, regional power projects implementation and regulation, integration of gender perspectives, and management of the energy sector,” he said during the start of the peer review that began today in Addis Ababa.

The peer review will support the capacity building and information sharing through exposure to national, regional and international best practices; identify best practices to improve effectiveness of the energy sector; and take stock of tools developed and used by RAERESA in influencing the practices of national regulatory institutions in carrying out their oversight role.

In Ethiopia, a  team of five energy experts from the Member States was constituted to carry out the review over a period of three days. The final report will be published and circulated to all the relevant stakeholders as part of information and knowledge sharing of regulatory matters in the eastern, southern and the Indian Ocean region.

RAERESA is a COMESA institution whose role is to support Member States energy regulators build their capacity and information sharing; facilitate energy supply policy, legislation and regulations; inter-regional cooperation; and regional energy regulatory co-operation.

Presently, six COMESA countries are in advanced stages of establishing their national energy regulators. These are Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Libya and Somalia. The six  are currently associate members of RAERESA.