National launch of the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) in Cameroon: project extended to Central African countries

Yaounde, (Cameroon), 21 August 2023

The Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) officially launched its activities in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Friday, 18 August 2023. The launch took place at an awareness-raising workshop attended by representatives of the ECOWAS Commission, the Cameroon Ministry of Water Resources and Energy, the World Bank and stakeholders from the private and public sectors, including civil society organisations, professional associations, the media, NGOs and commercial banks in Cameroon. 

During the workshop, participants heard a presentation on the mechanism for implementing the ROGEAP project in the 19 targeted countries, namely the 15 ECOWAS Member States and 4 other countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Central African Republic, Cameroon, Chad, Mauritania. The workshop also provided an opportunity to educate stakeholders on off-grid Solar PV technologies, with the aim of facilitating the establishment of a regulatory framework for the development of the off-grid Solar PV market in Cameroon.

The workshop was officially launched in Yaounde by Mr Laurent Ngouiga, Chief Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy of Cameroon, representing the Minister of Water Resources and Energy, and was attended by Mr Momodou Njie, Senior Energy Specialist at the World Bank, and Mr Arnaud Kouadio Ba, ROGEAP Monitoring and Evaluation Expert, representing the ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation, Mr Sédiko Douka.

ROGEAP is a joint initiative of the ECOWAS Commission and the West African Development Bank (BOAD). The project is aimed at increasing access to sustainable electricity services for households, businesses, public hospitals and schools in the 15 ECOWAS Member States and 4 other African countries (Mauritania, Central African Republic, Chad and Cameroon), using solar systems. The project, estimated at USD 338.7 million, is financed by the World Bank, the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the government of the Netherlands.