The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission says it plans to invest $380 million in electricity in public schools and health centres in Nigeria, Benin, Chad and 16 other African countries.
The commission said the electrification exercise would be carried out through its Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) and it is aimed at addressing power deficit across the region.
The project is funded by the World Bank, Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and Directorate General of International Cooperation (DGIS) of the government of the Netherlands.
This was disclosed yesterday at a stakeholders’ engagement forum on energising public institutions in Nigeria, where the senior adviser at the commission on ROGEAP, El-hadji Sylla, said the project was aimed at increasing access to electricity for rural communities in the ECOWAS region.
“We want to promote a new innovative chain to electrify public institutions. Our target is to electrify schools and health centres to improve the 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,” he said.
Speaking specifically on the implementation of the project in Nigeria, Sylla said the commission hopes to electrify selected public schools and health centres in the FCT, Niger and Nasarawa states in the next 18 months, noting that for the pilot project in Nigeria and Benin, they are targeting 18 months for completion but the entire project in the region is expected to be executed in five years in the various countries.
Also speaking, Engr. Bem Ayangeaor, the representative of the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu said rural electrification space in Nigeria had witnessed growth through grants and subsidies.
He said the ministry through capital subsidies administered by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), has been implementing innovative solutions to electrify rural communities.
