Consultancy on Electricity Utility Governance in Kenya

About Oxfam

Oxfam is an international confederation of 21 organizations, working with its partners and allies, reaching out to millions of people around the world. Together, we tackle inequalities to end poverty and injustice, now and in the long term – for an equal future. Oxfam has been operating in Kenya since 1963. The geographical focus of our programmes has been the urban areas mainly Nairobi City and arid and semi-arid lands, where we have been working with the poor and vulnerable groups to realize a transformed Kenyan society that challenges poverty and inequality to claim their rights.

Background Information

Oxfam in Kenya is proposing a piece of scoping research intended to advance the capacity of civil society to undertake good governance advocacy on electricity utilities in Kenya. Despite their importance in combatting climate change, sustaining economic growth, and providing energy for millions, utilities are in a poor state in Sub-Saharan Africa. Characterized by weak governance, and unsustainable finances, Sub-Saharan African utilities lack the ability to maintain their current infrastructure. They further lack the ability to make the necessary investments to keep up with growing demand and the integration of renewable energy into the grid. Despite the importance of these issues, there is currently limited civil society engagement on issues of utility governance across the continent.

Building capacity around the core metrics of a well-governed utility, as well as an understanding of the health of the utility in any specific context, requires the development of new technical knowledge in addition to mapping the points for potential reform. The effective operation of utilities involves complex technical assessments, considering multiple, increasingly advanced technologies. Their financing is complex (as is the reporting on that financing), and their revenue models are granular.

To this end, this scoping research will support the development of country-specific technical knowledge on the utility as well as its most strategic hinge points for advancing good governance and accountability. All developed research will go through Oxfam’s rigorous peer review process (which includes both internal and external reviewers). The research will then be used to inform a convening at which potential partners (to be identified during the research stage) will develop strategy by which to undertake utility reform.

Purpose of the Assignment

Oxfam in Kenya is seeking the services of a researcher to provide an analysis of the power sector including:

1. Analyzing and assessing the current state and efficiency of Electricity Utility in Kenya, drawing comparisons with other privatized public utilities and best practice from other countries.
2. Describe of the key indicators of well-governed and effective utility, best practice and standards as well as map out key stakeholders in the sector.
3. Outline the role of utilities and articulate their importance at the nexus of climate, energy access and development
4. Assess and provide recommendations in improving sustainability, production efficiency, allocative efficiency, and equity in supply of power to different stakeholders
5. Articulate the different institutional arrangements the utility can take and the evidence regarding the performance of different structures
6. Describe the general policy framework, financial architecture of electricity utility in Kenya and how to analyze the economic and financial sustainability
7. Articulate any known cases of successful efforts by civil society to advance governance reforms among utilities that can be replicated in Kenya
8. Developing concrete policy advocacy recommendations related to the research questions

Research Questions seeking to be answered

1. What is the current governance structure of the electricity Utility in Kenya?
2. What is the current economic and financial state of electricity utility in Kenya?
3. What is the productive and allocative efficiency of the electricity utility in Kenya?
4. What opportunities are there for Civil Society to engage in utility governance advocacy and energy sector reforms?
5. Would it make sense to explicitly ask for an analysis of the role of development finance actors like IFIs or bilateral development financiers in terms of both how they influence utilities and also how they might create/hinder opportunities for civil society engagement?
6. Is it worth suggesting some explicit analysis of the current level of transparency or access to information regarding utility finances, deals, plans etc.?
7. What are some of the best practices in utility governance that Kenya can borrow from?
8. What are the electricity utility reforms options that will improve performance and access?
9. What opportunities exists to facilitate a just energy transition for sustainable development?
10. Are there existing efforts by CSO actors around utility sector reform?
11. From the evidence generated above, what policy proposals can be made for improving energy access to reduce poverty and inequality?

Methodology

The researcher will need to review relevant secondary literature on the energy sector specific on electricity utility governance and gather primary data through Key Informant Interviews; and develop analyses on economic and financial sustainability, generation, transmission and distribution capacity of the power sector in Kenya, including case studies. The consultant will also be expected to develop policy proposals for efficient energy sector reform and governance.

Consultancy Responsibilities, Management Arrangements, Timelines and Deliverables

The consultant shall work under the supervision of the Tax Justice Strategist and Programme Officer for 40 consultancy days between November 2022 – February 2023 delivering the following:

• Literature review and commencement of KI interviews within 10 days of contract signing
• First draft within 20 days of signing the contract
• Final draft within 40 days of signing the contract

Oxfam will provide feedback on the deliverables within five days of their submission.

Deliverables

Output 1: The consulting firm/bidder will submit a comprehensive report in electronic version. The document should be very precise and address each specific objective.

The consulting firm/bidder will submit the following:

1. Inception report on the execution of the assignment within three days of the commencement of the consultancy; setting out
how they will approach the assignment.

2. Draft comprehensive research report on strategies for pursuing improved utility governance in each country, which should
include at least the following:

• Executive summary (2-3 pages)
• Introduction
• Purpose and objectives
• Methodology
• Findings
• Conclusion and recommendations

Output 2: The consulting firm/bidder will deliver a high-quality Power-Point presentation of the report before finalizing the assignment.

Output 3: Facilitate a stakeholder validation workshop to receive input and feedback from Oxfam.

Output 4: Final report, incorporating Oxfam’s, partners’, and stakeholders’ input, completed after input is received.

The written report will be:

• Produced in English language and using accessible and concise language.

• The report format and text shall be in A4 paper size and a legible Arial 12 font size.

• The report should not exceed more than 35 pages.

• One final electronic copy of the report by the agreed deadline and the raw data used.

Output 5: A policy brief not exceeding 10 pages

Consultant Qualifications, Skills and Competencies

The desired specification and qualities of the consultant(s) are as hereunder:

• Demonstrated knowledge and experience of developing analyses of energy sector
• At least 8– 10 years of demonstrated experience of policy advocacy on Energy, Public Policy issues with a preference for Energy Governance knowledge
• High quality analytical skills
• Demonstrated experience in similar pieces of work
• Excellent research and writing skills in English

Process of the Selection of the Consultant and Expectations for the Proposal

The consultant who meets the above requirements should express their interest by submitting the following:

• Suitability statement, including a CV and commitment to availability for the entire assignment in the months of December 2022– February 2023.
• Examples of previous similar work
• A technical and financial proposal
• Contacts of three referees that have recently contracted the consultant to carry out similar assignments.

N/B: The entire bid should be a MAXIMUM OF (10) PAGES inclusive of the above.