Electricity governance in the Arab world: Unpacking the resistance to creating regulatory agencies

One of the key elements of the deep reforms applied to the electricity sector in the last decade is the creation of regulatory agencies. This institutional model has been subject to a wide process of diffusion across countries, so that, to date, we can speak of a global phenomenon. The region that has least engaged with this global trend is the Middle East and north Africa (MENA). There, to date, out of 22 countries, 8 only have set up a regulatory agency to regulate the electricity sector. How can we understand this regional specificity? This paper addresses the puzzle of resistance to the diffusion of electricity regulatory agencies in the MENA region. It does so based on the analysis of quantitative data about the creation of regulatory agencies in the electricity sector in the region, completed with a case study of the creation and development of the energy regulatory agency in Algeria. It finds that the abundance of oil and gas in the region interferes with the transformation of the electricity sector.