Catalyzing Utility Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa : Quick Wins Matter for Transparency and Accountability

Robust corporate governance is vital if power utilities are to perform well (Irwin and Yamamoto 2004; Foster and Rana 2020). Corporate governance has internal and external dimensions. Aspects of internal governance include board autonomy, the quali...

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Main Authors:	Semikolenova, Yadviga, Driscall, Ian, Lee, Min A
Format:	Technical Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:	UTILITY REFORM POWER SECTOR REFORM TRANSPARENCY ACCOUNTABILITY ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION POWER GENERATION
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/519011628831337787/Catalyzing-Utility-Reform-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-Quick-Wins-Matter-for-Transparency-and-Accountability-Topical-Paper-Utility-Performance-and-Behavior http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36180

id	okr-10986-36180
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-361802021-08-24T05:10:40Z Catalyzing Utility Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa : Quick Wins Matter for Transparency and Accountability Semikolenova, Yadviga Driscall, Ian Lee, Min A, UTILITY REFORM POWER SECTOR REFORM TRANSPARENCY ACCOUNTABILITY ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION POWER GENERATION Robust corporate governance is vital if power utilities are to perform well (Irwin and Yamamoto 2004; Foster and Rana 2020). Corporate governance has internal and external dimensions. Aspects of internal governance include board autonomy, the quality of board proceedings, separation of board and CEO roles, and clear expectations for the CEO’s performance. These expectations should then cascade down through management and staff. Employment policies help to ensure the presence of high-quality management and staff who can meet expectations. The methodical collection of data helps in monitoring performance of management, staff, and board. This means appropriate and supporting information systems must be available. This paper analyzes the data collected under UPBEAT’s T and A mandate to draw conclusions on the status of the region’s utilities. It also identifies what we call ‘quick wins’, simple achievements that could make utilities more transparent in the short term and spark important reforms. The paper first presents an overview of the literature and discusses objectives and methodology. It then moves on to present current T&A findings, making a case for certain improvements. Third, it recommends ways to obtain some quick wins. Fourth, and finally, the paper suggests ways to expand UPBEAT so it can track broader governance variables in the future. 2021-08-23T16:16:27Z 2021-08-23T16:16:27Z 2021-08-12 Technical Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/519011628831337787/Catalyzing-Utility-Reform-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-Quick-Wins-Matter-for-Transparency-and-Accountability-Topical-Paper-Utility-Performance-and-Behavior http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36180 English Utility Performance and Behavior in Africa Today; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Working Paper Africa Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE) Africa Western and Central (AFW) Sub-Saharan Africa
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	UTILITY REFORM POWER SECTOR REFORM TRANSPARENCY ACCOUNTABILITY ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION POWER GENERATION
spellingShingle	UTILITY REFORM POWER SECTOR REFORM TRANSPARENCY ACCOUNTABILITY ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION POWER GENERATION Semikolenova, Yadviga Driscall, Ian Lee, Min A, Catalyzing Utility Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa : Quick Wins Matter for Transparency and Accountability
geographic_facet	Africa Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE) Africa Western and Central (AFW) Sub-Saharan Africa
relation	Utility Performance and Behavior in Africa Today;
description	Robust corporate governance is vital if power utilities are to perform well (Irwin and Yamamoto 2004; Foster and Rana 2020). Corporate governance has internal and external dimensions. Aspects of internal governance include board autonomy, the quality of board proceedings, separation of board and CEO roles, and clear expectations for the CEO’s performance. These expectations should then cascade down through management and staff. Employment policies help to ensure the presence of high-quality management and staff who can meet expectations. The methodical collection of data helps in monitoring performance of management, staff, and board. This means appropriate and supporting information systems must be available. This paper analyzes the data collected under UPBEAT’s T and A mandate to draw conclusions on the status of the region’s utilities. It also identifies what we call ‘quick wins’, simple achievements that could make utilities more transparent in the short term and spark important reforms. The paper first presents an overview of the literature and discusses objectives and methodology. It then moves on to present current T&A findings, making a case for certain improvements. Third, it recommends ways to obtain some quick wins. Fourth, and finally, the paper suggests ways to expand UPBEAT so it can track broader governance variables in the future.
format	Technical Paper
author	Semikolenova, Yadviga Driscall, Ian Lee, Min A,
author_facet	Semikolenova, Yadviga Driscall, Ian Lee, Min A,
author_sort	Semikolenova, Yadviga
title	Catalyzing Utility Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa : Quick Wins Matter for Transparency and Accountability
title_short	Catalyzing Utility Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa : Quick Wins Matter for Transparency and Accountability
title_full	Catalyzing Utility Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa : Quick Wins Matter for Transparency and Accountability
title_fullStr	Catalyzing Utility Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa : Quick Wins Matter for Transparency and Accountability
title_full_unstemmed	Catalyzing Utility Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa : Quick Wins Matter for Transparency and Accountability
title_sort	catalyzing utility reform in sub-saharan africa : quick wins matter for transparency and accountability
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2021
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/519011628831337787/Catalyzing-Utility-Reform-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-Quick-Wins-Matter-for-Transparency-and-Accountability-Topical-Paper-Utility-Performance-and-Behavior http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36180
_version_	1764484673036091392

Catalyzing Utility Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa : Quick Wins Matter for Transparency and Accountability

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