The Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) was officially launched in Cape Verde by H.E. Dr Omar Alieu TOURAY, Chair of the Commission of the ECOWAS
The opening ceremony of the 8th ECOWAS Forum on Sustainable Energy (ESEF 2023), held on Thursday 12 October 2023 in Praia, Cape Verde, by the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), also served as the backdrop for the launch of the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP). These two initiatives were launched by His Excellency Ulisses CORREIA E SILVA, Prime Minister of Cape Verde, and His Excellency Dr Omar Alieu TOURAY, President of the ECOWAS Commission, in the presence of Commissioner Sediko DOUKA, responsible for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation.
More than 300 participants attended the opening ceremony of ESEF 2023 and the launch of ROGEAP in the conference hall of the National Assembly of Cape Verde. In addition to members of the Government and Cape Verdean MPs, the event was attended by the Heads of Agencies and Directors responsible for energy at the ECOWAS Commission and in ECOWAS Member States, representatives of partners such as the World Bank, the West African Development Bank, the European Union, USAID, commercial banks, non-governmental organisations and associations working in the sustainable energy sector, and the private sector.
Following the welcome address by Commissioner Sédiko DOUKA, responsible for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation, and the speech by Mr Kwaku Mensan GABA, Practice Manager for West Africa at the World Bank, the award was presented to H.E. Dr Alieu Omar TOURAY, Chair of the ECOWAS Commission, to launch ROGEAP.
After expressing his sincere gratitude to H.E. José Maria Pereira NEVES, President of Cape Verde, for his commitment to regional integration, and to H.E. Ulisses CORREIA E SILVA, Prime Minister of Cape Verde and his government for their support for ECREEE and ESEF 2023, the Chair of the ECOWAS Commission reiterated the importance of this forum, which provides a prime platform for discussing the crucial role of renewable energy and energy efficiency as catalysts for sustainable development, both globally and in West Africa. “Today is a particularly momentous day with the launch of the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP)…. ROGEAP is one of the most important renewable energy projects for the ECOWAS Commission,” stated His Excellency Dr Alieu Omar TOURAY at the end of his speech. The proceedings were opened by His Excellency Ulisses CORREIA E SILVA, Prime Minister of Cape Verde, who delivered the official opening address for the forum.
ROGEAP used the second day of the forum to organise its first in-person meeting of the initiative, known as ‘the Community of Champions’. The event was organised by the West African Solar Association (WASA) (including Mauritania, Chad, Cameroon and the Central African Republic) in collaboration with governments and the private sector to discuss the challenges facing the off-grid solar energy market in the region.
The three sessions led by ROGEAP during the ‘Community of Champions’ focused, respectively, on ‘the policy and regulatory framework for the off-grid industry in the ECOWAS region’, ‘the private sector’s participation and role in off-grid energy access’ and, finally, ‘access to financing for off-grid energy’. The Community of Champions is a platform supported by the World Bank/ESMAP, the Shell Foundation, USAID/Power Africa, AECF, SE4All and GOGLA to facilitate ongoing dialogue, primarily between governments, the private sector and development partners, to collaborate on creating an enabling policy environment through best practices and the sharing of experiences, thereby contributing to universal access to energy in sub-Saharan Africa.
