Ghana’s Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), in collaboration with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), has set up the Centre of Excellence in Public Utility Regulation to build capacity and expertise in regulation and governance for the electricity, water, natural gas sectors and other public utility sectors.
The Centre will deliver programmes leading to the award of certificates in diverse courses related to regulation and the management of electricity, water and natural gas sectors.
It will further engage in cutting-edge research for investment and policy decision-making in the sectors of interest.
The Centre will open to the general public, and it hopes to be the leading Centre for research and capacity building in utility regulation in Africa and beyond.
Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who inaugurated the Centre on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, noted that the establishment of the Centre of Excellence in Public Utility Regulation (CEPUR) was both timely and relevant.
He said it is timely because emerging dynamics in the energy transition and energy security concerns require a competent and skillful workforce that is ready to help position Ghana and Africa to secure sustainable outcomes for future generations.
He added that it is also relevant because in most cases, Africa has become the consumer of research findings and emerging ideas led and written by researchers who may not be experienced in the socio-political landscape of the continent.
According to the Minister, the Energy Ministry has taken the lead in developing and implementing a road map for the energy transition in Ghana.
“Given the pedigree of GIMPA and the quality of its faculty members, I expect that the Center will become a thought leader in developing innovative and breakthrough research on utility regulation across the continent and beyond,” he said.
The Rector of Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, GIMPA, Prof Samuel Kwaku Bonsu said GIMPA was very proud of the initiative as it would enrich the intellectual environment for utility regulation in Ghana and across the globe.
He assured the general public that GIMPA would do its best to ensure that the Centre becomes the African leader on all matters related to utility regulation.
He commended the PURC leadership for working with GIMPA to establish the Centre.
Meanwhile, the Commission used the occasion to also launch the 2021 Ghana Utilities Performance Index (GUPI) Report.
The GUPI is an aggregate performance index computed to assess the performance of Ghana’s electricity and water utilities across their operational areas and regions.
The Executive Secretary of PURC, Dr Ishmael Ackah, who launched the Report, noted that the results of the 2021 Ghana Utilities Performance Index showed that utilities assessed exhibited varied levels of performance across the different indicators and along regional lines.
“For the electricity sector, it was observed that regions that achieved the highest levels of performance had implemented and undertaken revenue mobilisation drives, high fault maintenance regimes, and were cost efficient.
“For the water sector, high-performing operational areas witnessed high water quality levels, cost efficiency, and high consumer responsiveness,” Dr Ackah said.
According to him, GUPI has advantages, saying it would help utility service providers to decide the direction of their investments towards improving service delivery, as well as enable regulators to identify areas of focus for future auditing and monitoring activities towards enhancing the performance of the utilities.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
