It is planned that the Comoros will establish an independent regulatory body for energy, with the support of the Sustainable Regional Energy Market Enhancement Project in East Africa, South Africa, and the Indian Ocean. Currently, the island nation does not have a regulatory body operating in the energy sector.

The Sustainable Regional Energy Market is a project funded by the European Union with a value of seven million euros. COMESA led its implementation in partnership with regional economic groups, including the East African Community, the International Development Agency, the Indian Ocean Commission, and the Southern African Development Community.

Among the outputs of the project, which ended last month, was the support of member states in enhancing regulatory capacity and supporting the capacities of regional associations and energy communities to proactively influence developments in the energy sector.

To achieve this goal, the Comoros hosted a national workshop on regulations and systems on May 23 and 24, 2022, aimed at facilitating dialogue between regulatory experts in the region and energy sector leaders in Moroni, to move forward with the establishment of an independent regulatory body for energy.

Various organizations related to the development of the national energy sector in the Comoros participated in the meeting, including representatives from the Ministry of Energy, Water, and Fuels, the National Energy Facility, the National Facility, and representatives from the private sector and international cooperation partners.

The aim was to enable the target audience to appreciate the importance of establishing regulatory and institutional frameworks for energy in support of the long-term national government goals, which include providing reliable and affordable energy supplies and services to its citizens.

Ms. Nejda Said Abdallah, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Energy, Water, and Fuels, officially opened the workshop. The Minister expressed her gratitude to COMESA and the European Union for the successful implementation of the Sustainable Regional Energy Market project.

The Minister added that “electricity is considered a fundamental element in industrial productivity and tourism development as part of economic growth plans. Therefore, electricity will play a major role in driving economic transformation by allowing various active economic elements to access quality resources at a reasonable cost.”

Dr. Mohamedin Seif El-Nasr, the CEO of the Regional Energy Organizers Union in East and Southern Africa, highlighted the main challenges facing the sector in the region, including underdeveloped regulatory frameworks, the absence of an independent regulatory environment in some member states, and the coordinated regulatory framework to support the integrated electricity market at the regional level in the East and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean, which increased regulatory risks, complex implementation methods, and hindered decision-making related to investment in electricity infrastructure projects.

The Sustainable Regional Energy Market project, which ended on May 30, 2022, provided technical support for coordinating national legislation of member states with the coordinated regional regulatory framework by developing 12 regional guidance documents to enhance renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives and organizing training courses for 363 officials in the region.