The ‘ROGEAP’ network of journalists is organising its second regional awareness-raising workshop

The network of journalists ROGEAP is set to organise its second regional information and awareness-raising workshop ^{on 13–14} March 2024 in Lomé, Togo. The regional project on off-grid access to electricity (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’ policy on renewable energy, which aims to provide universal access to electricity in the region by 2030. The project comprises two main components: the development of a regional market for off-grid solar photovoltaic systems and the provision of access to finance for off-grid solar photovoltaic products for the private sector.

The Lomé workshop aims to update network members on the activities carried out by the project since its launch and will be chaired by Sediko Douka, the Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation at theECOWAS.

According to reports, of the 406 million people living in West Africa and the Sahel regions, an estimated 208 million do not have access to electricity, with around 70 per cent of them living in rural areas. The two-day event will therefore bring together members of the ‘ROGEAP’ network of journalists from the 19 member states to discuss the role, remit, activities and intervention mechanisms of the Project Fund Manager (PFM) in the member states.

Participants will also examine the role, remit, activities and intervention mechanisms of the West African Development Bank in member states. The forum is also expected to finalise the document setting out a robust framework for collaboration between the ‘ROGEAP’ network of journalists and the implementing partners of ‘ROGEAP’.

The ROGEAP, set up by the West African Energy Commission (ECOWAS) in partnership with the West African Development Bank (BOAD), officially commenced operations in April 2022. The project was launched at regional level in October 2023 in Praia, Cabo Verde, with the ultimate aim of improving access to electricity in the regions of the ECOWAS and the Sahel by using modern, off-grid solar technology through a harmonised regional approach.