London, UK – 3 June 2025
Eng. Ziria Tibalwa Waako, Chief Executive Officer of Electricity Regulatory Authority, is set to participate in the upcoming Africa Summit London and the 15th African Business Leadership Awards (ABLA), scheduled for 9–10 July 2025 in London, United Kingdom. Her participation comes as part of a distinguished lineup of African leaders making significant contributions to the continent’s economic and financial landscape.
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As the CEO of the Chief Executive Officer of the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) of Uganda, a position she assumed in March 2017, becoming the first woman to lead the institution. With over 32 years of experience in Uganda’s electricity sub-sector—15 of them in senior management—Eng. Ziria is a highly respected figure in energy regulation and infrastructure development.
She holds a BSc and MSc in Electrical Engineering from Makerere University, and an MBA in Leadership from Walden University, USA. A Registered Engineer, she is a member of both the Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers (UIPE) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Prior to her appointment as CEO, she served at Uganda Electricity Board and Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL), before joining ERA as Director of Technical Regulation in 2012.
Under her leadership, Uganda’s electricity generation capacity has grown from 895.5 MW in 2016 to 2,050 MW by 2024, with national access to electricity increasing from 1 million to 2.4 million households. She has been instrumental in promoting renewable energy, expanding the regulatory framework, and spearheading key projects such as GET FiT, which added 157 MW to the grid.
Eng. Ziria is the Chairperson of the Independent Regulators Board of the Eastern Africa Power Pool, and chairs both the Energy Committee of the African Forum for Utility Regulators (AFUR) and the Energy Regulators Association of East Africa.
A champion for women in STEM, she founded the Women in Energy initiative at ERA, encouraging more young women to join the sector. Her efforts have earned her several national accolades, including the Crested Crane Medal awarded by Uganda’s President in 2023, and the Excellent Performance Engineer Award by the National Engineers Registration Board in 2019.
Eng. Waako’s presence at the Africa Summit London will contribute significantly to conversations around electricity generation, women in STEM, capital market development, and regional investment opportunities. Her insights are expected to resonate across stakeholders looking to harness finance for inclusive growth and cross-border collaboration.
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