The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has announced its ambitious plan to invest $380 million in electrification projects across Nigeria, Benin, Chad, and 16 other African countries. This initiative will focus on providing sustainable electricity to public schools and health centres through the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP), aimed at addressing the severe power deficit in the region.
According to the commission, the electrification exercise will be funded by a consortium comprising the World Bank, the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), and the Directorate General of International Cooperation (DGIS) of the Netherlands government. This significant investment seeks to enhance access to electricity, particularly in rural communities, thereby improving the quality of essential services such as education and healthcare.
At a stakeholders’ engagement forum held yesterday on energising public institutions in Nigeria, the senior adviser on ROGEAP at the ECOWAS Commission, El-hadji Sylla, explained the core objectives of the project. Sylla stated that the project intends to revolutionize how public institutions access electricity by implementing innovative solutions.
“We want to promote a new innovative chain to electrify public institutions. Our target is to electrify schools and health centres to improve service delivery. We are piloting the project in Nigeria and Benin Republic. The project covers 15 countries in the ECOWAS region and four countries in the Sahel region,” Sylla said.
The pilot phase of the project will focus on electrifying selected public schools and healthcare centres in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as well as Niger and Nasarawa states. Sylla highlighted that the pilot projects in both Nigeria and Benin are expected to be completed within the next 18 months, while the broader regional project will take five years to fully implement across the various countries involved.
One of the key challenges in the West African region is the lack of reliable electricity, especially in rural and underserved areas. This has severely hindered access to quality education and healthcare services, as many schools and clinics either lack power or rely on costly and environmentally harmful alternatives like diesel generators. The ROGEAP initiative aims to change this by introducing off-grid solar power solutions that will enable these institutions to operate more efficiently and sustainably.
Engr. Bem Ayangeaor, a representative of the Nigerian Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, also spoke at the event. He praised the ECOWAS Commission’s efforts, noting the significant progress made in the rural electrification sector in Nigeria through grants and subsidies. He emphasized that electrifying schools and health centres in rural areas will help bridge the infrastructure gap and create new opportunities for development.
“This project aligns with the Nigerian government’s goals of increasing access to electricity in rural communities. We have already witnessed substantial growth in rural electrification through various grants and subsidies, and this initiative will further accelerate our progress,” Ayangeaor said.
The ROGEAP initiative is expected to play a critical role in the economic and social development of the region by ensuring that underserved areas have reliable electricity access. Improved power supply to schools and health centres will not only enhance learning environments and healthcare service delivery but also boost local economies by creating jobs and fostering entrepreneurship in rural areas.
As the project kicks off in Nigeria and Benin, it serves as a model for other African countries that are grappling with similar energy challenges. The five-year timeline for the full implementation of the project across the region underscores the complexity of electrification efforts in Africa, but the long-term benefits are expected to be transformative.
