AfDB Partners ECOWAS To Ensure Improved Energy Supply In West Africa

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has said it is working with ECOWAS through the West African Power Pool (WAPP) to develop the energy market, which aims at to ensuring improved quality and quantity of energy supplied to West Africa.

This was revealed by Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, the Director-General, West Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office of the Bank, in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday.

The WAPP is a specialised agency of ECOWAS which covers 14 of the 15 countries of the regional economic community (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Akin-Olugbade noted that the bank is proud of the investment it has made, saying it had financed a lot of transmission lines for the transmission of electricity.

”We have financed a lot of transmission lines and this will be for the transmission of electricity.

”Now, we are going to reap the return of some of these investments because with these facilities, energy will truly circulate in these countries because these countries have very low energy access rate at the moment.

”We are working with the government to ensure that we have the growth of clean energy to change the lives of millions of inhabitants in the region.

”This is what we set out to do to promote regional integration and here we are talking about regional integration as far as energy market is concerned.

”We have a number of energy transition projects in West Africa in addition to Nigeria and we believe in ensuring sustainable, fairness and a just energy transition.

”We also believe that West Africa should leverage its resources,” she said.

Speaking on transportation infrastructure, she said the bank financed a road project between the Lome-Cotonou corridor, which had reduced the length of time for goods to be moved from Burkina Faso to port of Lome.

"We need good connectivity if we want to see the dream of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) materialise."