Reforming the Power Sector in Africa

Today, the public sector in Africa, like in much of the rest of the world, is perceived as having led to inefficiency, waste, indifference and corruption in the provision of public services generally. The power supply sector is now experiencing a process of restructuring and reform, including privatization. The contributors to this volume, who are themselves involved in the policy process in their own countries, examine how far this movement towards restructuring and reform has...
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Today, the public sector in Africa, like in much of the rest of the world, is perceived as having led to inefficiency, waste, indifference and corruption in the provision of public services generally. The power supply sector is now experiencing a process of restructuring and reform, including privatization. The contributors to this volume, who are themselves involved in the policy process in their own countries, examine how far this movement towards restructuring and reform has proceeded in Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.Based on empirical research, the authors have generated policy options and scenarios that are bound to be of vital interest to policy makers and implementers throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Among the key topics dealt with are: the determinants of performance and efficiency; vertical and horizontal unbundling of power generation, distribution and sales; the role of independent power producers; the benefits and risks attendant on reform and privatization; and the legal and regulatory framework on which everything else depends.