The ECOWAS Parliament has intensified efforts to make reliable and affordable electricity available to citizens across West Africa, while aiming to increase the share of renewable energy in the region’s electricity mix to 48 per cent by 2030.
This was thrust of the ongoing delocalised meeting of the Joint Committee of the ECOWAS Parliament on Energy and Mines, Infrastructure, Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources currently going on in Dakar, the capital of Senegal as the regional assembly rallies stakeholders to improve this critical sector necessary for economic development and the integration process.
In his remarks in Dakar, the director of Cabinet in the Office of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Hon. Abdou Kolley, represented by Williams Baidoe, acting director of Energy and Mines of the Commission said the regional body is pushing for universal access to reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity for all communities in the region.
He spoke on the theme “Harnessing Renewable Energy for Rural Electrification and Empowerment of Rural Economies in the ECOWAS Region: The Role of the ECOWAS Parliament,” even as he commended the ECOWAS Parliament for organizing the session.
The session has become imperative judging by huge challenges confronting the region’s electrification project especially in the rural areas.
Recent reports show that West Africa’s electricity sector is hindered by severe supply deficits, aging infrastructure, high system inefficiencies, and low rural electrification rates. Over 190 million people in the sub-region reportedly lack access to power, with rural electrification averaging roughly 12 percent, stifling regional industrialization and economic growth.
Therefore, this session was a platform where the lawmakers and critical stakeholders will explore the opportunities to deepen their understanding of key issues and identify practical measures to accelerate inclusive development across the Community.
According to Kolley, ECOWAS has put in place a robust and gender-responsive policy framework to guide the energy sector, anchored on the updated ECOWAS Energy Policy, the ECOWAS Renewable Energy Policy and the ECOWAS Energy Efficiency Policy.
According to him, the renewable energy policy aims to raise the share of renewable sources, including large hydropower, to 48 per cent by 2030, while the energy efficiency policy seeks to reduce electricity losses currently estimated at between 35 and 40 per cent due to obsolete infrastructure.
He added that the recently adopted ECOWAS Climate Strategy would help harmonize efforts by member states in tackling climate change through adaptation and mitigation measures.
Kolley affirmed that key institutions, including the Energy and Mines Directorate, the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA), the West African Power Pool (WAPP) and the West African Gas Pipeline Authority (WAGPA), are collaborating strengthen regional energy integration and develop infrastructure needed to deliver affordable and sustainable energy services.
“We continuously imagine the lives of families being illuminated with hope, students able to study after sunset, health centres able to save more lives, and citizens finding new economic opportunities in their own communities,” he said.
He said that member states, technical and financial partners and other stakeholders are prepared to mobilize resources, strengthen capacities and promote clean energy markets across the region.
Electricity is key to economic transformation, job creation, improved healthcare, and social inclusion, that is why massive investment in this sector is being pursued by the lawmakers much as experts have assembled their intellectual resources to address the challenges in the sector.
In his contribution, Hary Andriantavy of the African Association for Rural Electrification (CLUB-ER), while presenting a paper entitled “The Impact of Energy Access on Rural Economies: Agro-Processing and Livelihoods’’ on Wednesday emphasized that energy access is fundamental to achieving sustainable development and lifting rural communities out of poverty.
“Energy access has impacts across four key areas: economic development and productive use of energy, basic social services such as health and education, quality of life and social inclusion, and environmental sustainability,” he said.
