2 - The Politics of Provision: A History of Debate & Reform

Summary

‘How should a developing country government, concerned with tackling poverty amongst its citizens, think about its role in the energy sector?’ (Bond, in World Bank & ESMAP 2000, p. vii). This simple question has proven vexing for countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Energy is a particularly vexing policy area because of its connection to so many other sectors and because of the varied and mixed ways that the benefits of energy sector reform are communicated and can be communicated to citizens. What is, for example, the primary reason for introducing private sector providers? For increasing electricity tariffs? For building a hydroelectric dam in lieu of investing in decentralized renewable projects? Hence, the questions are not only about how a developing country government should think about its role in the energy sector but also what the implications are of the energy pathways or investments chosen. How, for example, does a government address the inequity in access to modern energy services? How are questions about the unequal distribution of electricity services communicated? How are policy and reform decisions framed, assigned meaning and communicated?

One way that these questions have been examined is through the study of ‘narratives’ or, in this case, energy narratives. As Roe (1991) notably highlighted, a narrative is a story with a beginning, middle and end. What makes a narrative powerful is not its veracity, or the evidence to support it, but the strength or power of the narrative in driving actions and convincing others of the merits of the action. A narrative does not need to be true; but if the narrative is powerful and there are no other narratives that can compete and usurp dominant narratives, then the dominant narrative persists. For environmental issues in Africa generally, dominant development narratives have historically produced inaccurate and sometimes destructive policy interventions (see Leach & Mearns 1996). Hence, it can be asked: what is the dominant energy narrative being promoted by governments and international organizations? How are policy reforms or investments being framed and assigned meaning? Are historical, social, political and economic conditions or contexts in African countries amenable to the energy narratives being promoted?

Shortly after Uganda's state electricity utility was unbundled, the government produced a national energy policy.