Electricity Utility Governance
A development lender needed to assess where electricity infrastructure capital would flow beyond the published governance and procurement structures. The assessment examined appointments, contracting and delivery, identifying structures and counterparts that retained capacity for accountability.
A development lender considering electricity infrastructure required an assessment of where capital would actually flow. The utility published governance structures and procurement procedures.
On paper, the board appointed leadership through competitive evaluation. In practice, the prime minister selected the CEO and the board confirmed. Ethnic affiliation at the top shaped appointments, contracts, and which territories received coverage. Purchases worth billions in local currency proceeded without documentation available even to auditors. The utility operated as a feudal landlord, collecting from tenants it did not serve. Half of all electricity purchased was lost before reaching consumers; no official had faced consequences for leaving half the country in darkness. One lender acknowledged reporting figures that did not reflect field conditions.
The client committed to the structures that could deliver and the counterparts who retained capacity for accountability.
The mandates below are drawn from hundreds of engagements over fifteen years, including work predating Periplus. Specific parties, jurisdictions and instructing firms are protected by confidentiality.