Annual Report (1 October 2015 – 30 September 2016)

The programme aimed to address the complex power system challenges in these countries, particularly in the areas of integrated system planning, rural electrification, and financial sustainability. In Nigeria, the programme provided consistent advice to senior leadership on the need for integrated system planning to address the country's complex power system challenges. This included support for the development of the Energy Blueprint, which set out a strategy for boosting generation capacity from 3,600MW to 7,000MW. The programme also engaged members of the Senior Advisors Group to consult with top government leadership on options for refining the government's approach to strategic sector-wide planning. In Rwanda, the programme worked alongside the Rwandan Energy Group and the Ministry of Infrastructure to develop a detailed financial, integrated planning exercise. The programme provided analysis that clarified the short-term generation requirements to ensure a safe margin of supply until 2020 and how these generation requirements corresponded to projected demand. The programme also provided targeted advice on ensuring an alignment between generation and transmission, which is critical to prevent the government from paying for power that is not being consumed or having to source costlier power to meet demand. In Rwanda, the programme also helped to develop an ambitious Rural Electrification Strategy, which aims to boost energy access from 24% to 70% by 2020. The programme facilitated the planning for and initial setup of the implementation activities and mechanisms required for delivery of the Strategy's programmes. The programme also helped broker an initial engagement with private sector players and directed valuable development partner support behind the Strategy. In Sierra Leone, the programme worked on issues related to integrated system planning, though to a lesser extent, largely as part of and in conjunction with a broader set of reforms around financial sustainability. The programme provided support for the development of a Rural Electrification Strategy, which aims to boost energy access from 24% to 70% by 2020. The programme's key successes can be grouped around three important policy areas: improving integrated system planning, adopting a more strategic and transformational approach to rural electrification and expansion of energy access, and addressing the financial sustainability of the sector. The programme's activities and associated outcomes are detailed below. In terms of implementation, the programme deployed embedded full-time advisors working closely with key government officials and their teams. Members of the Senior Advisors Group provided peer-to-peer advice to senior power sector leaders, helping to design and build support for politically feasible reforms critical to developing the power sector of each priority country. The programme also helped progress projects and programmes that foster future private sector investment in and sustainable development of the power sector. The programme's work was coupled with ad-hoc support around institutional capacity building and selected direct and indirect support to new generation transactions. The programme also consolidated and enhanced its contribution to Power Africa by focusing on ways to help hone and coordinate with support by other Power Africa partners. Selected contributions by the AGI SAG programme included helping to set up a threshold programme for the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Sierra Leone, supporting a consortium of organisations in Sierra Leone to support Presidential delivery priorities in the energy sector, and brokering partnership and closer collaboration with the African Development Bank's African Energy Leaders Group. The programme's work in FY2016 was focused on leveraging its support in three countries while collaborating to advance the broader Power Africa Agenda. The programme also provided discrete, ad-hoc support in other countries, most notably in Guinea. In line with the revision of the Cooperative Agreement in Q4 FY2016, the programme started to provide support on a regional level, through the East Africa Regional Advisor.