PURC, GIMPA launch Centre of Excellence
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) have inaugurated the Centre of Excellence in Public Utility Regulation (CEPUR).
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The centre will develop competencies and expertise in regulation and governance for the electricity, water and natural gas sectors, among others.
It will also award certificates in programmes related to regulation and the management of electricity, water and natural gas, while engaging in research for investment and policy-making decisions in the sectors of interest.
The CEPUR is open to individuals, including policymakers and regulators, utility service providers, academia, among others, desiring to acquire knowledge in the economics of regulation.
Relevance
The Minister of Energy, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, who launched the centre, expressed appreciation to the PURC and GIMPA for the institutional collaboration to establish and develop competencies and expertise in economic regulation for the electricity, water and natural gas sectors, and other public utility service sectors.
He stated that the initiative was timely and relevant as the emerging dynamics in the energy sector, including the energy transition and energy security concerns, required a competent and skillful workforce that was ready to position Ghana and Africa to secure sustainable outcomes for future generations.
“I, therefore, entreat policymakers, regulators, utility service providers, industry players, civil society organisations and the general public desirous of acquiring knowledge in the economics of regulation to make use of the centre so as to build the expertise necessary to move the energy sector into the future,” the minister said.
Dr Prempeh further urged the management of the CEPUR to take the call to research seriously by finding innovative and effective ways of collaborating with industry and the corporate world to engage in quality, strategic studies aimed at finding practical solutions to real issues and to actualise research findings to develop the local economy.
Mandate
The Rector of GIMPA, Prof. Samuel Kwaku Bonsu, explained that the centre sought to contribute to the field of public utility regulation through research and training of experts in electricity, water and gas as a means to enrich the intellectual environment for utilities regulation in the country and the globe.
He stated that through high-level policy-relevant research, and the encouragement of scholarly and public dialogues on utility regulation, that would be a leading point of ideas and policies to support not only Ghana's PURC but also similar institutions across the continents.
Partnership
The Board Chairman of PURC, Ebo Quagraine, indicated that throughout the commission’s 25 years of existence as a multi-sector utility regulator, it had positioned itself to contribute in several ways to national development and to mentor relatively new regulators across the continent.
Thus, he said, the drive to enhance capacity development, efficiency and innovation among regulated entities to strengthen regulation in the country and beyond called for the need to establish the centre as they observed that GIMPA shared their resolve to contribute to national development through cutting-edge research, peer-learning and capacity development.
“So for us, this partnership is essential in our quest to achieve and sustain regulatory excellence,” Mr Quagraine added.
