Paper short abstract:

The fragmented electricity market in Hargeisa, Somaliland is dominated by private operators and rooted in dynamics of post-war reconstruction. The nature of competition and government efforts to regulate the sector highlight the ways in which the limits of the Somaliland state are being defined.

Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on the electricity sector in Hargeisa, the capital of the self-declared state of Somaliland. The price of electricity today in Somaliland is $1 per kilowatt-hour, one of the highest in the world. After the collapse of the Somali state in 1991, people returning to the ruined city of Hargeisa worked to rebuild their lives and over time, urban infrastructure. Individuals bought generators to supply electricity for their own businesses; soon many began providing power to their neighbourhoods. The most successful grew into private power companies, about 8 of which currently service this urban market.

This paper examines the governance of the sector, focusing on relations amongst private companies and between companies and the Somaliland government. It traces how the battle over electricity provision has happened at a neighbourhood level, and how companies have worked to solve their conflicts over territory and issues of customer choice using both an industry association and more 'traditional' forms of mediation. It looks at the state's role in the sector, both in terms of the heavily indebted government company set up in 2001 as well as current efforts to pass an Electricity Act to govern the sector.

This story of regeneration, fragmentation and ongoing efforts to regulate the sector by both private companies and government highlights the processes of conflict and negotiation which are shaping the limits of the state in Somaliland and more specifically, drawing the lines between private and public roles in service provision in the urban arena.