Eastern Africa Power Pool

The Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP) is a regional institution established in 2005 to coordinate cross-border power trade and grid interconnection among nations of the Eastern Africa region. The EAPP currently has thirteen (13) member countries that signed the Inter-Governmental Memorandum of Understanding (IGMOU) and fourteen utilities that signed the Inter Utility Memorandum of Understanding (IUMOU).

The pool comprises the following countries: Burundi, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Libya. South Sudan and Somalia joined recently and there’s a possibility that Eritrea may join. The EAPP’s General Secretariat is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a mandate to coordinate the development and functioning /operation of the power pool.

The current member utilities are; REGIDESO of Burundi, SNEL of DRC, EEHC of Egypt, EEP of Ethiopia, GECOL of Libya, KenGen of Kenya, KPLC of Kenya, KETRACO of Kenya, REG of Rwanda, SETCO of Sudan, SINELAC of DRC – Rwanda – Burundi, TANESCO of Tanzania, UETCL of Uganda, EDD of Djibouti and the newly joined SSEC of South Sudan and Electricity utilities of Somalia.

Our Vision

• To transform the Eastern part of Africa to a region of communities and business with universal access to reliable and affordable modern energy services from a sustainable generation resource.

• To transform the Eastern part of Africa to a region recognized as one of the best investment destinations in the world by energy intensive users.

Our Mission

• To facilitate least cost development of the interconnected electrical power system in the Eastern Africa region in a manner which is socially and environmentally sustainable.

• To facilitate reliable, safe and efficient operation of the interconnected electrical system in the Eastern Africa region.

• To facilitate the development of competitive electricity market in the Eastern Africa region

• To facilitate the development of local expertise to ensure sustained optimal expansion as well as reliable operation of the interconnected power grid and the regional electricity market.

Our Core Values 

1. Transparency: We value transparent relationships with our employees, members and the community at large as transparency breeds trust, and trust is the foundation of teamwork.

2. Diversity: We value diversity as it provides the essential skill and knowledge mix to realize organizational objectives.

3. Reliability: We value reliability as that forms the basis for trust with stakeholders.

4. Professionalism: We honor professionalism in all we do and engage in responsible decision-making that reflects the highest standards of ethical conduct. 

 Our Strategic Objectives

1. To secure power supply for the region’s countries
2. Optimize the usage of energy resources available in the region by working out regional investment scheme in power generation, transmission and distribution taking into account the environment effects.
3. To increase power supply in the region in order to increase access rate of the population to electricity in Eastern Africa,
4. To reduce electricity production cost in the region by using power system interconnection and increase power exchange between countries;
5. To provide efficient coordination between various initiatives taken in the field of power production, transmission as well as exchange in the region;
6. To create, in the framework of New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), a conductive environment for investment in order to facilitate integration projects financing in the fields of power generation and transmission in the region.
7. Facilitate, in the long term, development of Electricity Market in the region.

The Eastern Africa region has rich energy resources (hydro, geothermal, oil, gas, etc.), a large and rapidly growing population (40% of Africa’s population in 2017) and strong economic growth (seven of the fastest growing Sub-Saharan countries). However, the region is hampered by low access to electricity services (except for Egypt and Libya), insufficient installed generation capacity, a high cost of supply, limited electricity interconnections and comparatively high electricity distribution losses. This situation is, however, changing as countries in the region have actively been implementing new power generation and transmission projects.

The region also has a strategic geographic location, with the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) to the south and the Middle East to the North. EAPP countries are becoming increasingly interconnected; the connection to SAPP through the Tanzania-Zambia Interconnector is under implementation and plans to connect to the Middle East through Ethiopia and Sudan are being discussed (noting that Egypt is already connected to Jordan).

Presently, there are four synchronized networks (or interconnected “Clusters”), as explained in the 2019 Power Balance Statement for EAPP, in the EAPP region: the Egypt – Libya synchronized network, the Ethiopia – Sudan – Djibouti synchronized network, the Kenya – Uganda synchronized network, and the Rwanda – Burundi – East DRC synchronized network. Countries in the region also operate cross border transmission / distribution lines which are used to supply or electrify remote or isolated border cities in one country from the closest power grid of a neighbouring country.

Power trading through common planning and implementation of regional generation and transmission interconnection projects was identified as an important strategy of the EAPP for tackling the problems associated with power shortages, low access, high cost and poor power system reliability.

Based on the situational analysis and the priority areas of action indicated in the EAPP Road Map and Strategic Plan (2018-2027), the following four strategic themes have been established:

1. Power Infrastructure Development;
2. Development of Regional Power Market;
3. Excellence in Operational Activities; and
4. Learning and Growth.

These four themes are consistent with the EAPP objectives outlined above.ﾠ

As a regional organization, EAPPﾠ has several stakeholders and partners. Some of the organizations are;

1. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
2. Nile Basin Initiative (NBI),
3. East Africa Community (EAC),
4. West Africa Power Pool (WAPP),
5. Southern African Power Pool (SAPP)
6. Central Africa Power Pool (CAPP),
7. Union of Producers, Transporters, and Distributors of Electric Power in Africa (UPDEA).

Furthermore we have international development partners (.e.g World Bank (WB), Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Europeean Union(EU), Sweden’s government agency for development cooperation(SIDA), Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), United States Agency for International Developmentﾠ (USAID) etc , that support regional power systems integration within Eastern Africa countries