ECOWAS Addresses Poor Electricity Supply In The Region

Poor electricity generation and excessive pricing throughout West Africa are concerns raised by ECOWAS.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has voiced serious concerns about the region's high electricity bills and insufficient supply of electricity.

Sediko Douka, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy, Mines, Water Resources, Digitalization, and Postal Services, underlined the critical role that infrastructure plays in promoting development during a press briefing in Abuja.

Using an installed production capacity of 25,421 GW—of which thermal sources account for 77%, hydro for 22%, and solar/wind for a meager 1%—Douka emphasized the difficulties facing the energy industry.

Rural areas fall substantially behind, with only 10% of people having access to power, even if there has been a little improvement in access from 45% in 2019 to an average of 53% in 2023.

Douka further emphasized how industrial expansion is hampered by the low percentage of intra-regional electricity exchanges, which is just 9%, and by the continued high cost of electricity.

He listed the main obstacles, which included an uneven energy mix, high tariffs, and insufficient production and transport.

Among other specialized organizations created in response, ECOWAS has the West African Power Pool in Cotonou, Benin, and the Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority in Accra, Ghana.

The goal of the West African Power Pool Master Plan, which Douka described in detail, is to develop regional power generation and transmission facilities. Of the 75 projects planned for 2019–2033, the estimated cost is USD 36 billion.

The long-term goal of the strategy is to integrate national electrical networks into a single regional market, providing ECOWAS member states' citizens with a medium- to long-term, reliable, and reasonably priced electricity supply.