Khulisa served as the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) partner for the East Africa Energy Program (EAEP), a flagship component of Power Africa, implemented by RTI International. The EAEP aimed to expand access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable electricity across East Africa by supporting utility performance improvement, enabling policy reform, and facilitating cross-border electricity trade. The programme operated in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, where energy access gaps, infrastructure bottlenecks, and gender disparities in the energy sector remained persistent challenges.
As a core MEL partner in this complex, multi-country programme, Khulisa strengthened evidence-based decision-making and embedded learning into programme management and delivery. We led the design and implementation of robust MEL systems that captured program performance, informed operational adjustments, and supported adaptive management. This included establishing real-time MEL feedback loops that enabled implementing partners and USAID to monitor progress, refine strategies, and optimize budget allocations in response to changing political and operational contexts.
Khulisa supported the development and refinement of key performance indicators (KPIs), MEL frameworks, and data collection tools across the programme’s technical areas. We managed EAEP’s incoming and outgoing data flows, conducted outcome evaluations, and completed two data quality audits (DQAs) of power utilities — ensuring high quality performance data that remained reliable, timely, and actionable.
A core part of our role involved facilitating learning reviews and pause-and-reflect sessions, which became essential mechanisms for integrating MEL findings into strategic planning and operational decision-making.
One significant area of impact was Khulisa’s work to enhance gender equity measurement within the EAEP. We helped define gender-sensitive indicators, strengthened the collection and use of sex-disaggregated data, and identified pathways for mainstreaming gender across programme activities. These efforts informed targeted interventions that promoted women’s leadership and participation in the energy sector.
This project demonstrates Khulisa’s ability to deliver technically rigorous, contextually grounded MEL support within a complex nulti-country regional development programme. Our work combined deep methodological expertise with practical experience in multi-stakeholder environments and systems-level learning. Through our role in Power Africa, we reinforced the value of MEL that is collaborative, adaptive, and geared toward achieving sustainable, inclusive outcomes across Africa’s energy ecosystem.