- The Economic Community of West African States has officially launched their Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) in The Gambia and Cote d’Ivoire.
Stakeholders in the renewable energy sector of these two West African countries took part in the official launch of activities for ROGEAP. In attendance were experts from the ministries in charge of energy, stakeholders from the public and private sectors, including civil society organisations, NGOs, the press, and commercial banks in The Gambia and in Cote d’Ivoire.
The main two-fold objective of both workshops was to present the new structure of ROGEAP to the stakeholders and to sensitise them regarding the implementation of the policy framework for the development of solar technologies and the off-grid PV systems market.
In Banjul, the workshop to launch ROGEAP activities in The Gambia was formally declared open by Alhagie Manjang, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, and attended by Elhadji Sylla, ROGEAP Senior Advisor, representing Sediko Douka, ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation.
In Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, the workshop was presided over by Pacôme N’guessan N’Cho, Director of Rural Electrification, representing the Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Energy, and attended by Sandra Folquet, Head of ECOWAS National Office in Cote d’Ivoire and Arnaud Ba Kouadio, ROGEAP Monitoring-Evaluation Expert representing Sediko Douka, ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation.
The aim of ROGEAP is to increase access to sustainable solar energy services in the 15 ECOWAS member states and in four other African countries (Mauritania, Central African Republic, Chad, and Cameroon) for households, businesses, public hospitals, and schools. The $338.7 million project is funded by the World Bank, Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and Netherland Cooperation (DGIS).
Author: Nomvuyo Tena
Nomvuyo Tena is a Content Producer at Vuka Group and is as passionate about the energy transition in Africa as she is about music and Beyonce.
This article was originally published on ESI Africa and is republished with permission with minor editorial changes.
