Niamey hosts validation workshop of final report of study for selection of villages, development strategy

Niamey hosts the validation workshop of the final report of the study for the selection of villages and the development strategy of the Regional Electrification Project for 20,000 villages in West Africa (PRODEL 20000)

Experts from Ministries in charge of energy, focal points designated for the follow-up of the study or their representatives and experts from electricity companies or agencies in charge of rural electrification of ECOWAS Member States meet in a workshop from March 29 to 31, 2023 in Niamey, Niger. During this workshop, they will have to validate the final report of the study for the selection of villages and the development strategy of the Regional Electrification Project for 20,000 villages in West Africa.

The opening ceremony of this regional workshop, which took place this Wednesday, March 29, 2023, was chaired by Mr. Rabiou BALLA, Secretary General of the Ministry in charge of Energy and Renewable Energies of Niger, in the presence of H.E.M. N’DRI Guillaume GNAMIEN, Resident Representative of ECOWAS in Niger, Mr. DABIRE Bayaornibè, Director of Energy and Mines of the ECOWAS Commission and Mr. Gado SALIFOU, Director General of Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency of the Niger.

In the various speeches that marked this opening ceremony, emphasis was placed on the importance of access to energy, which is a vital necessity for guaranteeing the economic development of the countries of the region, but also for the achievement of health, education, food security and poverty reduction objectives as a whole.

“The Niamey workshop, which follows that of March 2022 in Lomé, Togo, will allow experts to agree on the results of the first study of the Regional Electrification Project for 20,000 villages in West Africa. , in order to proceed very quickly with the other phases of preparation, in particular the feasibility study” declared Mr. DABIRE Bayaornibè, Director of Energy and Mines of the ECOWAS Commission.

ECOWAS initiated this important Project, which complements the efforts of Member States in terms of access to electricity, with the aim of improving the living conditions of the beneficiary populations, through access to quality energy. especially in rural areas, and to create new jobs and opportunities for lucrative activities for the populations, added Mr. DABIRE Bayaornibè.

In his speech, the Secretary General of the Ministry in charge of Energy and Renewable Energies of Niger, Mr. Rabiou BALLA, for his part, deplored the energy poverty of West Africa. This deprives nearly 180 million people of the notable benefits of electricity.

Mr. BALLA also indicated in his speech that the challenges are enormous and that the issue of access to quality energy, particularly in rural areas, needs to be tackled with new paradigms, including in particular genuine political will and mobilization of significant investments for the preparation of projects with a view to their implementation. In this context, he hailed the PRODEL 20000, an ECOWAS initiative, which in the long term will provide a boost to the access of the populations of the region to electricity.

It should be noted that within the framework of its “Master Plan for Rural and Peri-urban Electrification in West Africa”, ECOWAS has already operationalized various projects, the most important of which are (i) the Regional Project for Access to Electricity of ECOWAS (ECOWAS-REAP) of an amount of 225 million US dollars covering Mali, Gambia and Guinea Bissau, (ii) the Regional Project for Access to Electricity and Storage Technologies of Energy by Batteries (BEST) of an amount of 465 million US dollars whose Electrification component will cover 2500 villages in Senegal, Niger, Togo and Mauritania, and finally (iii) the Regional Project for Access to Electrification Off-Grid (ROGEAP) in the amount of US$338 million which aims to electrify 58,500 households in West Africa through off-grid solar solutions.