As part of efforts to enhance access to electricity in Africa, the Economic Community of African States (ECOWAS) said last Friday that its off-grid power initiative would also benefit three non-ECOWAS member states.
This was disclosed by the ECOWAS during a workshop in the Cameroonian capital Yaounde last Friday to launch the activities of the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP), which seeks to develop access to electricity to off-grid communities in the subregion.
ECOWAS said Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, and Mauritania would also benefit from the ROGEAP initiative.
ROGEAP is a joint-initiative of the ECOWAS Commission and the West African Development Bank (BOAD), aimed at increasing access to sustainable electricity services for households, businesses, public hospitals and schools in the 15 ECOWAS Member States and the other four African countries, using solar systems.
The project, estimated to cost about 338.7 million U.S. dollars, is financed by the World Bank, the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), and the government of the Netherlands.
Africa has launched an ambitious intra-regional trade programme, seeking to create the largest free trade area in the word, using trade as a catalyst for industrial and economic development, an initiative that experts say required improved access to electricity on the continent.
It is estimated, however, that more than 50 percent of Africa’s populations still lacks access to electricity, with implications on health, education, poverty reduction and sustainable development outcomes.
Yhe United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in March 2023 that “access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest of any world region due in part to the lack of grids that distribute electricity to consumers. And where grids exist, they’re outdated, unstable and lack customer connections.”
“Africa can build a cleaner and greener future by increasing access to clean energy through sustainable and environment-friendly solutions to ensure the region is not left behind as the world moves towards zero-emission fuels,” said UNCTAD in its report entitled “Commodities at a glance: Special issue on access to energy in sub-Saharan Africa”, published on 21 March.