Nigerian Stakeholder Awareness Forum on the Electrification of Public Infrastructure for the Implementation of the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP)

The Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) is organizing a forum to raise awareness and mobilize Nigerian stakeholders on the electrification of public infrastructure (Health Centers and Schools), its mandate, objectives and implementation in Nigeria and 18 other states including those of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Sahel, on September 26, 2024, in Abuja, Nigeria.

The ROGEAP project has received funding from the World Bank and has appointed a consortium to develop and implement sustainable commercial and financial models for the electrification of public rural health centers and schools in Benin and Nigeria, in collaboration with the federal ministries in charge of electricity, finance, education and health, and to promote the electrification of health centers and schools in liaison with the private sector and with the support of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), and the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA).

The main objective of ROGEAP’s stakeholder engagement and mobilization forum is to re-engage with all stakeholders in, Nigeria to ensure that ROGEAP lives up to its mandate regarding the completion of the feasibility study which will result in the energization of public institutions.

During the meeting, participants will deliberate on a clear roadmap for the Technical Committee to carry out its feasibility study on the electrification of Nigeria’s public institutions, as well as on obtaining the necessary NERC and NEMSA national certificates to facilitate the process of energizing public institutions.

In his welcome address , ROGEAP Coordinator Mr. Sylla Elhadji, , presented the missions and objectives of the project, and recalled that it is because of the strategic importance of energy for sustainable development and poverty reduction in the ECOWAS and the Sahel region that the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CEREEC) has initiated the Regional Off-Grid Electrification Project (ROGEP), in partnership with the West African Development Bank (BOAD).

“The aim of the ROGEAP project is to increase access to electricity for households, businesses and public institutions using modern stand-alone solar technology, through a harmonized regional approach,” said Mr. Sylla.

Mr. Sylla added that the project was renamed the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP), restructured and approved by the World Bank on March 11, 2021, with ECOWAS and BOAD as executing agencies. The project is financed by the World Bank, with co-financing from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the Netherlands Government’s Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS). It is part of the ECOWAS Program for Access to Sustainable Electricity Services (EPASES), contributing directly to the objectives of the ECOWAS Regional Renewable Energy Policy (PREAO), with a target of universal access to electricity for the region by 2030.

In their speeches at the opening ceremony of the meeting, the various representatives of the Nigerian federal ministries taking part in the workshop congratulated ECOWAS and its partners for organizing this workshop, and for its efforts to enable the region’s populations to have access to reliable, sustainable and modern energy services at an affordable cost.

Present at the forum were representatives of Nigerian public and private institutions such as the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Federal Ministry of Power, the Federal Ministries of Education, Health and Social Welfare, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) and the Nigerian Solar/Clean Energy Private Sector (Renewable Energy Association).