The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has lamented poor generation and supply of electricity and high tariffs across the West African region.
The ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy, Mines, Water Resources, Digitalisation, and Postal Services, Sediko Douka, at a weekly press briefing in Abuja on Thursday said that infrastructure was the backbone of any development.
However, Douka lamented, “The energy sector, which is one of ECOWAS main areas of action, has an installed production capacity of 25,421 GW, distributed as follows: 77 percent thermal, 22 per cent hydro, one percent solar/wind. The rate of access to electricity has increased from 45 per cent in 2019 to an average of 53 per cent in 2023.
“Despite this increase, there are significant disparities as the electricity access rate in rural areas is standing at only 10 percent.
“The electric sector also faces a low level of intra-regional electricity exchanges (nine percent). Furthermore, electricity prices in the West African region remain very high (0.24 USD = 150 FCFA/kWh), negatively impacting economic development, especially industrial development. In short, the main challenges include:
“Deficiency in electricity production and transmission despite extensive energy potential in the region (for example Hydo =26 GW but only 20% is exploited).
“High tariffs and poor energy access; unbalanced energy mix: 2/3 thermal to 1/3 hydro, resulting in a low proportion of solar and wind energies.”
Douka said that to address the challenges, “ECOWAS set up specialised agencies in the field of energy, namely, the West African Power Pool in Cotonou, Benin, the Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority in Accra, Ghana, the Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Praia, Cape Verde, and the West African Gas Pipeline Authority in Abuja, Nigeria.
“Implementation of the West African Power Pool Master Plan for regional power generation and transmission facilities for 2019-2033: 75 regional projects worth USD 36 billion to build 23,000 km of power interconnection lines and generate 16,000 MW.
“The strategic objective of the WAPP is to integrate the operation of the Community’s national electricity grids into a unified regional electricity market, with a view to providing the citizens of ECOWAS Member States with a stable, regular, and reliable supply of electricity at a competitive cost in the medium and long term.”
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