The Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) of ECOWAS has formally kicked off in Nigeria.
The initiative is to increase access to sustainable solar energy services for households, businesses, public hospitals, and schools in the 15 ECOWAS member states and four other African countries namely Mauritania, Central African Republic, Chad, and Cameroon.
The $338.7 million project is funded by the World Bank, Clean Technology Fund, and Netherland Cooperation (DGIS).
Following the Nigeria launch, national workshops to launch ROGEAP will be organised in the coming weeks across the other 18 member states concerned with its implementation.
Launch/workshop
President of ECOWAS Commission, Omar A. Touray, in a speech read for him during the event, reiterated the main objectives and goals of the project and urged stakeholders in attendance to support the project’s implementation in Nigeria.
“The goal of ECOWAS and its partners, through ROGEAP, is to assist member states set up an enabling framework for the establishment of an off-grid solar energy market and expand accessibility through broader private sector participation and funding,” he said.
Presiding over the session on behalf of the supervising minister, the Ag. Director of Renewable and Rural Power Access of Nigeria’s Ministry of Power, Ing. Abubakar, said the sustainable development of member states was attainable solely through adequate power supply.
“Renewable energy is available locally and may be harnessed for power supply. This would minimise dependence on imported fossil fuels, and thus improve national power security, reduce petroleum importation costs and poverty. The idea behind ROGEAP is the provision of such solutions as will improve the living conditions of our population,” added, before he formally declared the workshop open,” he said.
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