A Comparative Analysis of Electricity Regulatory Frameworks in Nigeria and South Africa

Abstract

Africa is tagged the ‘Dark Continent’. As seen by some analysts, the concept of ‘dark continent’ is a symbolic representation of Africa’s underdevelopment on the one hand and its inability to generate enough electricity necessary for economic and human development on the other hand. The need for a decentralized electricity regulatory framework vis-à-vis effective regulatory institutions in improving power generation and supply cannot be overemphasized. Thus, the failure of most Sub-Sahara African (SSA) countries to significantly improve their power sector could be blamed on non grass-root oriented and non-inclusive electricity regulatory models. South Africa runs a decentralized electricity regulatory model which is highly contributory to her relatively high rate of electricity access. The objectives of this work are to attempt a comparative analysis between South African (SA) and Nigeria’s regulatory power sector frameworks and to understand the impacts of SA’s regulatory frameworks on its power generation with the view to drawing lessons for Nigeria. The major argument of this paper is that SA’s decentralized electricity regulatory model is highly contributory to the country’s power sector performance as against Nigeria’s centralized model with has dwindled its power sector performance. This paper examines the existing regulatory frameworks of both Nigeria and South Africa, their impacts on the various aspects of power sector. The paper also identifies salient lessons for Nigeria from SA experience and makes other recommendations that could improve Nigeria’s power sector regulatory regime and overall performance of the sector.