The Economic Community of West African States, and the Commission of the West African Economic and MonetaryUnion in collaboration with the Commission of the European Union under the 11th European Development Fund, have revealed plans to eradicate poverty through enhanced governance, transparency, and accountability within the West African energy sector, PUNCH reports.

The programme themed “AGOSE-AO,” is a €32 million project that was officially launched in April 2018 and was scheduled to end in April 2022.

However, due to delays in the implementation of the projects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a two-year time extension at no additional cost was approved to cover the period from May 2022 to April 2024.

The development was made known during the fourth steering committee meeting titled, “Improving Governance of the Energy Sector in West Africa,” which was organised by ECOWAS in Abuja on Tuesday.

The meeting which took place at the Stratton hotel in Abuja, saw the participation of the EU delegations to Nigeria, Benin Republic, and Burkina Faso in attendance.

Also present were members of the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, the West African Power Pool, the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority, the German Agency for International Cooperation, as well as the Energy Charter, British Council and the NTU International A/S.

The Director of Energy and Mines, ECOWAS, Mr Bayaornibe Dabire, revealed that there’s a framework of cooperation and agreement between ECOWAS, the EU, and other bodies involved, to improve the West African energy sector.

Dabire said, “The programme aims to lay a foundation for enhanced governance, transparency, and accountability in the energy sector in West Africa.

“This would also pave the way for universal access to modern, affordable, reliable and sustainable energy services, which is a precondition for sustainable development and for alleviating poverty within the region.”

Meanwhile, the programme team lead, Emmanuel Ramde, who also spoke to pressmen during the event explained that within the AGOSE-AO project, many other projects have been executed and impactful results were achieved.

He added that a key achievement of the programme was the elaboration and adoption of two important regional documents, namely the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Code and the Updated Regional Energy Policy.

“The AGOSE-AO project is a €32million programme, and several projects have been executed within it with impactful results. However, these documents are setting a harmonized regulatory and legal framework within the energy sector of the region thereby, creating a conducive environment for better access to energy services, for improved living standards and for the socio-economic development of West Africa in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and with the international commitments on Climate Change.

“Inadequate access to modern energy services and poverty are highly correlated. We believe that we must go beyond just the social dimension and provide energy for productive purposes,” Ramde said.

He further noted that once a conducive environment for access to modern energy services is created, a large population of people will be able to use the energy for productive and income generating activities.

“This will help them come out of poverty and improve their living standards. Hence, there’s a need to harmonise the legal and regulatory framework across the 15 member-states of the ECOWAS, and to ensure a secure, transparent, stable and vibrant common market which will attract investors from within and outside West Africa,” he added.