Renewable energy industry stakeholders in Liberia and Mauritania participated in the formal launch of activities of the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) in Monrovia, Liberia and in Nouakchott, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, on June 8 and June 12, respectively.

In attendance were experts from the Ministries in charge of Energy, stakeholders from the public and private sectors including civil society organisations, NGOs, the press, and commercial banks in Liberia and in Mauritania.

The aim of both national workshops was to introduce ROGEAP to stakeholders concerned, raise their awareness of PV solar technologies (off-grid) and ultimately create a regulatory framework that will promote the development of the off-grid PV solar products market in Liberia and in Mauritania.

In Monrovia, Kelvin Grugbaye, Director, Energy Efficiency and Environment, representing Liberia’s Minister of Mines and Energy presided over the workshop to kick off ROGEAP activities in Liberia. In attendance were Josephine Nkrumah, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Resident Representative in Liberia, the World Bank Representative in Liberia, and Arnaud Kouadio Ba, ROGEAP Monitoring and Evaluation Expert, representing the ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation, Sediko Douka.

In Nouakchott, the workshop’s proceedings were presided over by Ahmed Salem Bouheda, Secretary General of the Ministry of Petroleum, Mines and Energy, and had in attendance Elhadji Sylla, Principal Consultant for ROGEAP, representing ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitisation, Sediko Douka.

Recall that ROGEAP is being implemented by ECOWAS Commission and the West African Development Bank (WADB). The aim is to increase access to sustainable energy services for households, businesses, government hospitals and schools in the 15 Member States of ECOWAS and four other African countries (Mauritania, Central African Republic, Chad, and Cameroon) using solar technology.

The $338.7 million project is funded by the World Bank, Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS) of the government of the Netherlands.--OGN