The World Bank has approved $300 million credits and grants in West Africa Regional Electricity Trade Development Policy Financing Programme (West Africa Energy PDF).

This seeks to remove barriers to electricity trade, which will lower electricity costs for consumers.

It will also improve the resilience and reliability of supply.

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According to the World Bank, member countries of the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS), have been working through the West African Power Pool towards a fully integrated power market.

The World Bank noted that ECOWAS will have completed primary interconnectors that will link the states together.

The Vice President for Western and Central Africa of the World Bank, Ousmane Diagana noted that there is a potential for clean and green energy generation, that which can unlock and pool together to bring lower-cost electricity to communities.

“It will help create jobs”, he added.

He said that the West Africa Power Pool will ensure the full strength of the regional power market since it has completed fundamental work of interconnecting national grids.

He said that Coordinated policies are paired with regulatory frameworks that will help improve trust in the electricity trade, “as well as usher into a new era of affordable and reliable energy in West Africa”.

WORLD BANK https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/07/28/electricity-trade-to-unlock-affordable-and-reliable-electricity-in-west-africa

The West Africa Energy PDF supports a policy reform programme being implemented by Burkina Faso, Côte D’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, and Sierra Leone to facilitate trade in cleaner low-cost electricity generated from gas, hydropower and renewable energy across borders.

This is expected to replace the more expensive electricity generated from inefficient small-scale oil-fired and diesel generation.

Currently, only 50 per cent of th3 population in West Africa have access to electricity.

In addition, due to operational deficiencies, electricity services are unreliable with an average of 44 hours of outages per month.

By Agnes Melissa Yovo | Talksafrica.com