The Network of Journalists for the ‘ROGEAP’ is organising its second regional awareness-raising seminar
The Network of Journalists for the ‘ROGEAP’ is to organise its second regional information and awareness-raising seminar, which will take place from13 a14 March 2024, in Lomé, Togo. The Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) is funded by the World Bank, the Clean Technology Fund and the Dutch Government’s Directorate for International Cooperation.
The project forms part of the ‘ECOWAS’ programme on access to sustainable electricity services, contributing directly to the objectives of the ‘ECOWAS’ Renewable Energy Policy, which aims to provide universal access to electricity in the region by 2030. The project has two main components: the development of a regional market for off-grid solar photovoltaic systems, and the provision of access for the private sector to finance for off-grid solar photovoltaic products.
The Lomé seminar aims to update network members on the activities carried out by the project since its inception and will be chaired by Sediko Douka, the Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
According to reports, of the 406 million people living in West Africa and the Sahel regions, an estimated 208 million have no access to electricity, with around 70 per cent living in rural areas. The two-day event will therefore bring together members of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (ROGEAP) Journalists’ Network from all 19 Member States to discuss the role, remit, activities and intervention mechanisms of the Project Fund Manager (GFP) in the Member States.
Participants will also examine the role, mandates, activities and intervention mechanisms of the West African Development Bank in its member states. It is also hoped that the forum will finalise the document setting out a robust mechanism for collaboration between the ‘ROGEAP’ Journalists’ Network and the implementing partners of ‘ROGEAP’.
The Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project, known as ‘ROGEAP’, was established by the ‘ECOWAS’ in partnership with the West African Development Bank (WADB) officially commenced operations in April 2022. The project was launched at regional level in October 2023 in Praia, Cape Verde, with the ultimate aim of increasing easy access to electricity in the regions of theECOWASs and the Sahel, using modern, off-grid solar technology through a harmonised regional approach.