COMESA to address power shortage
2010-07-22 Muwanga, David (East African Business Week, Kampala)
Resources > By Topic > REGIONAL TRADE ARRANGEMENTS > COMESA
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) member states should expect increased regional electricity trade exchange that is expected to reduce power shortages in the region.
This follows the announcement by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/East Africa that they are giving a total of US$2.5 million to provide capacity building and technical assistance to the East African Power Pool (EAPP).
EAPP is a specialised institution under COMESA aimed at improving access to affordable, clean energy through regional electricity trade exchange.
The project codenamed Powering Progress will further develop the Eastern Africa regional electricity market by assisting the pool to promote reliability, address shortages, lower access costs, and expand regional power capacity within the Eastern Africa region.
Powering Progress was launched at the 12th Steering Committee Meeting of the EAPP held in Kigali, Rwanda on June 29, according to statement issued by the USAID/East Africa office in Nairobi, Kenya.
It will also support the harmonisation of regional policies and regulations for improved cross-border trade, increase private sector investment in electricity by addressing specific policy and regulatory barriers and improve the technical and financial performance of EAPP member utilities.
Director for USAID/East Africa Candace Buzzard said that lack of power is a challenge holding back development in this region.
“Lack of efficient, clean power impacts everything, whether children have light to do their homework at night, the ability of African businesses to show a profit, and the willingness of international companies to invest in this region,” he noted.
Among the activities to be covered is the preparation of a strategy for developing the enabling environment for infrastructure investment.
The project will also support a workshop to enhance stakeholder electricity trading skills and to promote best practices of power pool operation from the United States and Central America, facilitate at least three bilateral electricity trading agreements and develop cross-border protocols for rural electrification.
EAPP Executive Secretary Jack Oduor said the project fills will expedite operationalisation of the regional energy market.
COMESA, EAPP and East African Community (EAC) will work together on the initiatives in using clean energy technologies for cross border rural electrification.
COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya said energy is scarce and expensive despite the huge energy potential that the African continent is endowed with.
“The high energy cost has always been an impediment to achieve competitiveness and pro-poor economic growth,” he said.
“The installed capacity of electric power of the COMESA region is about 38 000 megawatts of which about 73% is thermal and 26% is hydro while generation is less than the installed capacity by more than 20% due to drought, lack of maintenance and rehabilitation among others,” he explained.
“The percentage of population that has access to electricity in most COMESA member States, with the exception of Egypt (99%) and Mauritius (99%), varies between eight to 12% for Uganda, Rwanda and Malawi, 15-25% for Ethiopia and Kenya, Zambia, Swaziland and Sudan are in the range of 20-35 % and Zimbabwe 41%. This means that a high percentage of the population is waiting for power supply”.
However it had earlier been reported that Tanzania, Uganda, Djibouti and Libya are yet to join the East African Power Pool outfit.
This is despite the fact that funds are already flowing into the organisation’s coffers both from the members and donors.
“All COMESA countries are expected to join EAPP as per the decision by the Comesa Summit. We have sent the necessary documents to them since they have indicated that they are committed to joining,” EAPP executive secretary Jasper Oduor, told the media recently.
Although seven East and North African countries – Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Sudan – are working together under the East African Power Pool (EAPP) to fast-track research, cooperation, interconnection and joint power production in the region, the reluctance by the four countries is now the single biggest challenge to the regional body’s secretariat.
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