COMESA comprises 21 member countries with a combined population of 560 million and a GDP of US$768 billion. According to a paper presented by COMESA Assistant Secretary General Amb. Dr. Mohamed Kadah on May 21, 2024 titled “Estimating Investment Needs for the Power Sector in Africa 2023-2030, the COMESA will need US$34 billion annually to meet access, grid and generation expansion.
The paper indicates that the demand for electricity in COMESA will grow by 57 percent from 2023 to 2030 and that nearly 95 million connections will be required for universal access by 2030. Except for Egypt which has reached 100 percent electrification rate, the electrification rate is poor in almost all member states.
The COMESA is part of the Sub Sahara Africa (SSA) region where over 640 million people have no access to clean energy. Shockingly, Spain has more installed electricity capacity than the entire COMESA.
Because of the criticality of energy, investment in the energy sector within the SSA and the COMESA region must be accentuated. This means that sector-based reforms such as those underway in Zambia must be implemented in other COMESA countries as well.
Currently, there are some significant disparities regarding tariffs across countries. This makes it challenging to invest in the sector in some COMESA countries due to the tariff regime which does not make sense from an investment perspective.
In addition, there is a need for harmonisation of the regulatory framework to support investment and electricity trade within COMESA. Therefore, it is important that tariff reforms are significantly implemented to make the sector more viable and attractive to private investors in the COMESA region.
With greater harmonisation of regulatory frameworks in COMESA, it will make trading in electricity easier even as interconnectors and regional integration gains momentum. One such interconnector is the Zambia-Tanzania Interconnector.
It is not just about investing in more electricity generation capacity, but in transmission and distribution and interconnector infrastructure as well. It is of no use to build power plants and then fail to evacuate the electricity to where it is needed.
This is why Zambia’s ongoing reforms which has implemented an “open access regime” is a commendable outcome. Furthermore, the Zambia-Tanzania Interconnector will assist to integrate Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP) and East African Power Pool (EAPP).
At the moment, there are capacity challenges on most transmission infrastructure in the COMESA region. The level of investment needed in the COMESA energy sector must cover the building of more power plants, transmission, and distribution infrastructure. The COMESA region needs energy sector investment of not less than US$34 billion annually to solve energy trilemma and solve the energy poverty ravaging the COMESA.
The harmonisation of the regulatory framework is critical. Part of the arbitrage which COMESA has is its aggregate population. But this huge population is not domiciled in one piece of land but extends from Southern African countries to East Africa and Egypt.
This calls for robust and conceited efforts to exploit the arbitrage while at the same time dealing with the challenges of a gigantic land mass.
Zambia has already got some interconnector facilities with Zimbabwe, Namibia and DRC and within the ZiZaBoNa Framework project, more capacity will be harnessed.
ZiZaBoNa creates a new Western Transmission Corridor in Southern Africa, by linking the power systems of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia. We need more interconnector facilities on the West and on the East.
Other COMESA countries also need to invest more in interconnectors. This will aid trade in electricity trade. In a nut shell, COMESA countries are supposed to have interconnector facilities with each other.
As part of strategies to accentuate the attraction of energy sector, investors and governments within COMESA are strongly encouraged to invest in the harmonisation of regulatory frameworks, reduction of red tape and cumbersome procurement processes and tariff reforms.
This contribute to accelerating investment and trade in electricity. With more investment in the COMESA and facilities to evacuate electricity from one country to another, energy poverty will be alleviated thereby putting the region in a strong position to significantly process towards the attainment of the UN SDG goal number 7 which calls for universal access to clean, affordable, and sustainable energy for all by 2030.
When the energy sector regulatory frameworks are harmonised within regional blocks, it will be easier to integrate the five power pool regions across the African continent thereby paving way for a single electricity African market. It is part of the AU vision to create a single electricity market.
.Dr. Johnstone Chikwanda is an energy expert, consultant, and a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Zambia. Email: j_chikwanda@yahoo.com
