Senegal and Kenya Top African Development Bank’s Electricity Regulatory Index

Kenya and Senegal have claimed the top spots in the African Development Bank’s 2024 Electricity Regulatory Index (ERI) demonstrating exceptional progress in power sector governance and regulatory outcomes.     

The comprehensive assessment, officially unveiled today at the Africa Energy Forum in Cape Town, evaluates regulatory frameworks across 43 African countries.    

The African Development Bank Group is leveraging its presence at the 27th African Energy Forum (AEF 2025) to spotlight its strategic energy access initiatives, particularly Mission 300 – a bold campaign launched with the World Bank to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.

Uganda, Liberia and Niger round out the top five performers, with Niger registering one of the biggest gains, underlining the strong impact of sustained reforms and political commitment to power sector development. 

Uganda, which previously ranked first, remains a top performer with a score of 0.855 in 2024. Ghana (0.768 in 2024, up from 0.709 in 2022) also remains in the top cohort.

Uganda’s decline from the top spot in the index which it had held continuously from 2018 to 2022 is due both to improvements in other countries and internal factors. 

According to ERI 2022 data, the average score for “Formal independence from government” was extremely low (around 0.26 in 2021), though it has improved slightly with new legislation in a few countries. For example, Kenya’s Energy Act 2019 enhanced the autonomy of its Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), and Uganda and Tanzania have maintained relatively strong independence.

Th report said reforms in countries such as Senegal and Kenya have allowed them to overtake. "All these variations must, however, be taken in the context of ongoing change and other political factors" 

Since 2018, Kenya has never been out of the top five countries in the index but in 2022, the former administration imposed a moratorium on new power purchase agreements (PPAs), which parliamentwas expected to lift in 2025.

The ERI evaluates three dimensions—Regulatory Governance, Regulatory Substance, and Regulatory Outcomes (ROI). Notably, the ROI, which tracks service delivery and utility performance, recorded the most substantial improvement across the continent. 

Key findings from the 2024 ERI

Kenya and Senegal led with a score of 0.892, reflecting standout progress in tariff reform, regulatory outcomes, and utility performance.  

The reports says a remarkable 41 out of 43 participating countries achieved RGI scores above 0.5, representing a significant increase from 24 countries in 2022.  

It indicates that countries scoring below 0.500 reduced significantly from 19 in 2022 to just 6 in 2024.  It further notes that even the lowest-performing country tripled its score—from about 0.10 to 0.33.  

The Regulatory Outcomes (ROI) surged from roughly 0.40 in 2022 to 0.62 in 2024, showing that reforms are delivering tangible service improvements on the ground.  

Now in its seventh edition, the 2024 Electricity Regulatory Index (ERI) shows strong momentum toward more effective, transparent, and impactful regulation, with real-world results beginning to emerge. 
  AfDB Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, Dr. Kevin Kariuki said the  2024 Electricity Regulatory Index shows that Africa’s regulators are stepping up.   

“We are now seeing stronger institutions delivering real results for utilities and consumers. This shift is critical if we are to achieve Mission 300 and connect 300 million people to electricity by 2030,” For the first time, the 2024 ERI also assessed regional regulatory bodies, recognizing their growing role in harmonizing technical standards and enabling cross-border electricity trade” he said.  

As the backbone of Mission 300, Electricity Regulatory Index continues to inform the design and implementation of national energy compacts—currently active in 12 countries, with another 20 in development. 

Bridging the Gap – Addressing Ongoing Challenges 

While celebrating regulatory progress, the report calls for greater focus on regulatory independence, the financial viability of utilities, and the integration of off-grid and mini-grid systems into national frameworks. The ERI underscores that regulation must translate into better access, affordability, and reliability, especially for underserved rural populations.  

The report outlines priority areas for enhancing regulatory effectiveness. These included the need to strengthen regulatory independence, enhancing accountability mechanisms, promoting transparence, predictability, improving stakeholder participation and deepening economic regulation and advancing cost-reflective tariff methodologies.  

Director for Energy Financial Solutions, Policy and Regulation at the Bank Group, Wale Shonibare said the 2024 report tells a hopeful story. 

“African countries are not just passing laws—they are implementing them. Regulators are transforming from administrative bodies into strategic institutions with measurable influence. However, challenges related to independence, financing, and enforcement persist,” said Wale

"Electricity service supply companies must ensure that regulatory institutions develop electricity tariff review schedules and ensure that the latter follow them to continue to have a fair tariff. They must conduct technical audits of Electricity Regulatory Index for Africa 2024-2026  their facilities to determine the true value of their assets and their condition before submitting applications for electricity tariff revisions" said the report. 

Launched in 2018, the ERI is a diagnostic and policy tool used by governments, regulators, and development partners to identify gaps, track progress, and prioritize reform efforts. The 2024 edition incorporates extensive feedback from utilities, regulators, and regional energy bodies.     

The Bank has committed to delivering 50 million of Mission 300’s ambitious target of 300 million new connections, working closely with countries and partners to align investment and policy reforms. 

The initiative gained traction in January 2025 at the Africa Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, when twelve countries—as a first batch—unveiled their National Energy Compacts, outlining concrete policy actions and investment plans to fast-track electrification. 

This was backed by the Dar es Salaam Declaration on Energy, which calls for coordinated action on financing, reforms, and implementation.  

The Bank’s participation at AEF 2025 comes as it deepens its investment in power generation, transmission and off-grid solutions across Africa. 

Between 2016 and 2025, it invested $12.74 billion to connect over 28 million people to electricity and financed nearly 40,000 km of distribution lines. In 2024 alone, it enabled the generation of 1,019 MW of electricity, construction of 2,326 km of transmission infrastructure, and provided electricity access to 448,000 people.  

These efforts align with the Bank's "Light Up and Power Africa" priority and the New Deal for Energy in Africa, which together aim to achieve universal electricity access on the continent by 2030, addressing the urgent needs of the 600 million Africans still living without power. 

The Bank leads major regional initiatives such as Desert to Power, which spans 11 Sahelian countries and aims to generate 10 GW of solar energy to benefit up to 250 million people. It also supports the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) and the Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI), both focused on mobilizing capital for early-stage clean energy projects and smaller-scale private sector developers.  

The Bank has financed several of Africa’s largest renewable energy plants. In Egypt, it supported the Benban Solar Park (1.5 GW), contributing to 20% of the country's renewable energy target.

\ In Morocco, the Bank led financing for the Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex, which supplies electricity to over 2 million people and offsets 700,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. Both projects are considered continental benchmarks