Electricity sector reform in Africa: Convergence and diversity of approaches

For many years most large utilities and undertakings such as those in electricity production, mining, agriculture, transportation have been controlled by state organs, often called "parastatals" or state enterprises. In the '70's and 80's, African economies did not have severe economic challenges; some countries were even booming (e.g. Nigeria of the '70's). With the passing of time, populations grew and so did unemployment and many African countries experienced financial woes. Service delivery too suffered through inefficiency, over-manning and bad management. Economists and management consultants were brought in from institutions like the World Bank and the IMF. The word "restructuring" soon became a buzz word. The basic philosophy was that these state controlled organizations should operate along business lines. In this paper we examine how four representative countries, Nigeria, Namibia, and South Africa have approached the restructuring issue and the progress they have made.