August 25, 2021

The Gambian Acting Executive Director of the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, (ECREEE) has stressed the importance of capacity building to the successful implementation of the institution’s mandate.

Speaking recently at the ECOWAS Parliament’s delocalized meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, the Environment and Natural Resources, in Abidjan, Cote d´Ivoire, Bah F.M. Saho called on the ECOWAS Commission to provide more funds to support sustainable energy provision in the region. The Abidjan meeting enabled the relevant ECOWAS institutions to discuss the implementation of renewable energy projects in the region.

Saho informed the meeting that over the years ECREEE has registered numerous successes in terms of advocating for and implementing renewable energy policies. These, he said, include enhancing the capacity of member states to adopt renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies. Saho said that ECREEE has also established an information collection and dissemination program called ECOWREX. It is the first data-sharing platform established by an ECOWAS institution.

The ECREEE Acting Executive Director opined that investing in solar panel manufacturing plants as well as plants for manufacturing efficient lights could bring down costs for consumers. This he notes “will help bring about a more affordable and cheaper option for energy access for the people of this region”. He also called for the strengthening of the capacity-building program of ECREEE to tackle the rising unemployment ratio in West Africa.