In 2015, the Egyptian Electric Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency (EgyptERA) saw its mandates enlarged to incentivise the gradual reform of the electricity market, which targets extensive private sector participation.

To execute this expanded role and enable EgyptERA to regulate investments in the generation, transmission, distribution, and supply activities, the internal organisation was restructured, with new departments being created, particularly in governance and internal audit. This increase in responsibilities led the Egyptian regulator to establish conflict of interest rules, given the absence of formal regulations and guided by MEDREG’s good regulatory principles and recommendations.
To achieve this, EgyptERA sought the support of MEDREG members by sharing best practices, providing real-life examples, and offering hands-on training.

It is in this context MEDREG organised a workshop for EgyptERA, in order to help the authority develop the internal rules which tackle and define the conflict of interest, raising topics like:

• What constitutes a conflict of interest?
• Potential conflict of interests
• Employee responsibility     
• Management responsibility
• Process to declare actual or potential conflicts of interest and management feedback
• Process for identifying, managing, and resolving cases of conflict of interest.

The workshop shared the key insights of MEDREG’s 2023 report on that subject and featured detailed case studies from Montenegro, France and Spain.