42nd Coordination Meeting of WAPP's Technical and Financial Partners

On Thursday, June 20, 2024, the 42nd coordination meeting of the technical and financial partners (PTF) of the West African Power Pool (WAPP) was held at the AZALAI Hotel in Cotonou, Benin. The session was officially opened by Mr. Sédiko Douka, Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy, and Digitalization at ECOWAS, in the presence of Eng. Sule Abdulaziz, Chairman of the WAPP Executive Board, and Mr. Siengui A. KI, Secretary General of WAPP. This event underscores the importance of international collaboration for energy development in West Africa.

In his speech, Mr. Sédiko Douka recalled that, in response to the challenges of the electrical energy sector, the ECOWAS Conference of Heads of State and Government created the West African Power Pool (WAPP) in 1999. Through the implementation of the master plan adopted for the development of regional electricity production and transmission resources by the statutory bodies of ECOWAS and WAPP, numerous projects have been initiated with the support of the PTF. These efforts have led to the interconnection of fourteen continental ECOWAS countries and the operationalization of the WAPP Information and Coordination Center, a true platform for electricity exchanges in the sub-region.

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Since June 2018, several community texts have been adopted to ensure the proper functioning of the regional electricity market. Thanks to state-of-the-art infrastructure, it is now possible to buy and sell energy regionally via the WAPP Information and Coordination Center, which acts as the regional system operator. This infrastructure will, among other things, strengthen and make energy exchanges within ECOWAS more competitive and promote the development of access to electricity.

Eng. Sule Abdulaziz, Chairman of the WAPP Executive Board, expressed his deep gratitude to the technical and financial partners for their unwavering support. He emphasized that their contributions have been crucial in achieving significant progress. The Chairman of the Executive Board encouraged participants to seize this opportunity to deepen their mutual understanding, share innovative ideas, and forge new paths of collaboration.
Mr. Siengui A. KI, Secretary General of WAPP, also praised the commitment of the technical and financial partners. He highlighted that their expertise, creativity, and willingness to tackle challenges have been invaluable, not only for the success of the projects but also for strengthening relationships of trust and mutual respect. Today, fourteen West African countries, including Mauritania, share a synchronous power grid, with Nigeria and Niger expected to join soon.

Tests to evaluate the tools for managing the electricity market are currently underway, and the initial results are very promising. WAPP is entering a new phase of its transformation with the development of its business plan for the 2024-2027 period, based on a thorough analysis of WAPP's environment, needs, and resources, with a clear vision for the future.
The WAPP coordination meeting of technical and financial partners illustrates the ongoing commitment of the partners and collective efforts towards a prosperous energy future in West Africa.
During the meeting, the 2024-2027 business plan, the progress of WAPP projects, and funding needs were presented. These needs, relating to the development of the regional electricity market, the preparation and implementation of priority regional projects, as well as capacity building, amount to approximately USD 4.3 billion for the 2024-2026 period. The PTF applauded the progress made, reiterated their commitment to support WAPP, and expressed their interest in financing some projects presented.