The African School of Regulation is now accepting applications for the 2nd Cohort of the prestigious Power Sector Regulation in Africa Course (20 free seats available)

Ednah Carrick October 9, 2024

0 306 3 minutes read

Closing Date: 28 February 2025

The African School of Regulation is now accepting applications for the 2nd Cohort of the prestigious Power Sector Regulation in Africa Course (20 free seats available)

Overview

The Power Sector Regulation in Africa consists of 10 Weeks Online Course + 1 Week Presential Course. The Power Sector Regulation in Africa course provides a comprehensive overview and a sound understanding of the fundamentals of power sector regulation in the diverse contexts of African countries. The course goes far beyond “having an informed opinion” on regulatory issues. It is designed with the practical objective of “learning the trade” of regulatory practice, at a level that can be achieved throughout the course. The course will provide a solid platform to build later with specialised training on different topics.

The course consists of two parts: the first is online and lasts ten weeks; the second is in person and lasts one week. In the online and main part of the course, participants will learn the regulatory principles that apply to the several activities involved in the delivery and utilisation of electricity and their implementation in the African power sector context. The Power Sector Regulation in Africa course will end with an optional in-person week devoted to the analysis of practical cases of application of the material covered during the online part of the course.

What you will learn:

Core principles of power sector regulation, tailored to the African context
Electricity transmission and distribution
Large-scale generation of electricity: From centralized planning to wholesale markets
Current policy issues in the development of the energy sector in Africa

Course Objective

The objective of this course on “Power Sector Regulation in Africa” is to provide a comprehensive overview and a sound understanding of the fundamentals of power sector regulation in the diverse contexts of African countries. The course goes far beyond “having an informed opinion” on regulatory issues. It is designed with the practical objective of “learning the trade” of regulatory practice, at a level that can be achieved over the duration of the course. The course will provide a solid platform on which to build later with specialised training on different topics. The power sector in many African countries presents unique challenges that require distinctive solutions, not by copying and pasting international best practices, but by creatively adapting them or inventing new ones, always starting from the basic principles of economic regulation and an understanding of the engineering aspects of this complex industry. This is the mindset the course seeks to stimulate in the participants.

Structure

A lesson comprises:

An introductory (video or podcast) with the justification of the relevance of the topic, a brief overview of its content and the presentation of the objectives to be achieved by the participants by the end of the lesson.

Several video lectures of about 10 minutes in duration. Several of the videos will include polls and questions which participants can engage in. All video lectures have transcripts available in PDF, with subtitles and transcripts in other languages. The main language of the course is English.

Required readings will be provided for each lesson. These are foundational to understanding the topic concepts in each lesson and complement the video lectures.

Optional readings (and links to relevant podcasts and/or videos) are provided for participants who would wish to learn more on the theme of the Lesson.

Discussions forum typically involving participants responding to a question posed in the discussion forum within the e-learning platform. The forums also provide participants with the opportunity to engage with each other’s contributions.

Live classes are held at least once every two weeks and will comprise the live interactions with the course instructor to answer questions posed by course participants or clarify on aspects of the course content.

A self-assessment test is provided at the end of each lesson with multiple choice and ‘true/false’ questions. An explanation for each answer is provided. A minimum mark must be achieved to pass the test, but there is no limit to the number of times a participant can take it.

Participants may undertake an individual Course Project, which will be based on a topic to be provided by the course instructor.

Target Audience

This course is designed for professionals working in the multiple entities related to the power sector, which includes regulatory authorities, ministries and governmental agencies, power utilities, academia, investors, development organisations, and others who wish to gain an in-depth and practical understanding of the regulation of the power sector in Africa.