Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze how strategic renewal affects the reconfiguration of capabilities. In the context of organizational change in a large utility firm, we examine the evolution of the capability structure, and explain the emergence and persistence of capability...

The power sector in South Africa is dominated by the state-owned, vertically integrated utility, Eskom. An Energy Policy White Paper and subsequent Cabinet decisions laid out a path of managed liberalisation. However, government still experiences ambivalence and doubts around restructuring. The...

This paper focuses on Egypt's three independent power projects (IPPs), evaluating the context in which they were developed as well as how the context has changed. Initially the Egyptian government planned a series of 15 gas-fired, steam cycle, independent power projects. The first three,...

Sub-Saharan Africa faces chronic power problems, including insufficient generation capacity, low connectivity, poor reliability, and high costs, all of which constrain development. The investment requirements to meet Africa's power needs are noted and strategies to address the funding gap are...

This paper documents South Africa's electrification programme from the late 1980s to the present. The primary aim of the paper is to present the reader with an overview of the policy, institutional, planning, financing and technological developments and innovations that resulted in more than 5...

Following earlier reforms in the power sectors of industrialized countries and emerging markets (e.g. Chile), developing countries were encouraged to unbundle their electricity industries and to introduce competition and private sector participation. This paper highlights the developments that...

This study analyses the outcomes of independent power projects (IPPs) across Sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately 20 such projects1 have taken root to date, concentrated mainly in 8 countries. A suite of country level and project level factors play a critical role in determining project success,...

African power sectors are generally characterised by insufficient generation capacity. Reforms to address poor performances in the 1990s followed a prescribed evolution towards power markets that would allow wholesale competition amongst generators and so lead towards efficiency improvements....

This paper proposes a capability-based framework to explain performance deficiencies in utility firms as a result of policy and regulatory changes. The framework complements conventional explanations such as transaction cost and agency approaches, which suggest that appropriate incentives and...