Namibia Powers Ahead in African Energy Rankings

Across Africa, the ability to deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity does not depend solely on power plants or transmission lines.

It depends equally on the strength of the institutions that govern the sector. Effective regulation provides the rules, transparency, and certainty that allow electricity markets to function, investments to flow, and consumers to be protected.

Recognising this, the African Development Bank (AfDB) introduced the Electricity Regulatory Index (ERI) in 2018 as a benchmark to measure how effectively African countries regulate their electricity sectors.

The ERI serves as a continental diagnostic tool, assessing whether regulatory frameworks exist, how well they are implemented, and whether they ultimately deliver tangible results for utilities, investors, and consumers.

The index evaluates regulatory performance across three pillars: regulatory governance, which measures the independence and institutional strength of regulators; regulatory substance, which examines the quality of regulatory tools such as tariff methodologies, licensing frameworks, and technical standards; and regulatory outcomes, which assesses whether these frameworks translate into real improvements in service delivery, investment, and sector performance.

Over the past few years, Namibia has emerged as one of Africa’s most promising regulatory success stories.

In the 2022 ERI report, Namibia achieved a score of 0.618, placing 13th out of 43 African countries. While this ranking reflected a solid regulatory foundation, it also revealed a familiar challenge across many African electricity sectors: strong governance structures existed, but translating these structures into measurable sector outcomes required further progress.

Just two years later, Namibia’s trajectory has changed dramatically.

According to the 2024 ERI results, released during the Africa Energy Forum in Cape Town in June 2025, Namibia has risen to first place in the Southern African Development Community and fourth place in Africa, achieving an overall ERI score of 0.831, significantly above the continental average of 0.668.

This remarkable improvement reflects the strengthening of Namibia’s electricity regulatory framework under the leadership of the Electricity Control Board (ECB).

The country now performs well above the African average across all three ERI pillars, with strong scores in regulatory governance, regulatory substance, and regulatory outcomes. Importantly, Namibia has significantly narrowed the gap between regulatory frameworks and real-world results, demonstrating that regulation is increasingly translating into improved sector performance.

For international investors and development partners, this progress sends a powerful signal. A strong regulator provides policy certainty, transparent tariff methodologies, and fair market access, all of which are essential for attracting investment in electricity generation and infrastructure.

As Africa accelerates its energy transition, countries with credible regulatory systems will be best positioned to mobilise the capital required to expand electricity access and integrate renewable energy.

Namibia’s progress did not occur by chance. It reflects a deliberate effort by the ECB to align the country’s regulatory frameworks with international best practice while supporting the modernisation of the electricity supply industry.

Recent reforms have strengthened the regulatory landscape significantly.

The approval of revised transmission and distribution grid codes, alongside a new connection code, has established modern technical and operational standards aligned with regional power system requirements.

The introduction of a national embedded generation standard has created a clear framework for businesses and households seeking to generate electricity and connect to the grid, accelerating the adoption of distributed renewable energy.

At the same time, the development of an updated wheeling framework has enabled private electricity producers to sell power directly to large customers using existing grid infrastructure, supporting the operationalisation of Namibia’s modified single buyer market and expanding opportunities for private sector participation in electricity generation.

Another major milestone has been the strengthening of the performance management framework for Namibia’s electricity supply industry.

This framework introduces measurable performance indicators across key areas such as financial sustainability, supply reliability, customer satisfaction, and regulatory compliance.

Over time, it will transition toward an incentive-based regulatory system, encouraging utilities to improve efficiency, service quality, and accountability.

– Mathias Moyo is the head of statistics and research at the Electricity Control Board.

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