Representatives from the ECOWAS Commission, the Nigerian Ministry of Energy and stakeholders from the public and private sectors, including civil society organizations, NGOs and commercial banks were in Abuja on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. These stakeholders took part in a workshop to officially launch the ECOWAS Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) in Nigeria.

Developing access to off-grid electricity in sub-Saharan Africa is the vision of the workshop, which brought together a variety of stakeholders in the energy sector. It has a double objective. The first is to introduce the new ROGEAP structure to the stakeholders and the second is to mobilize their active participation for the success of the project in Nigeria. Specifically, the workshop participants discussed the status of solar home systems, the institutional and legal framework of the solar home systems sector in Nigeria, the activities planned under ROGEAP, and the role of ROGEAP in the development of the project.The workshop discussed the status of solar home systems, the institutional and legal framework of the solar home systems sector in Nigeria, the activities planned under ROGEAP, the involvement of private companies in the electrification of public buildings and infrastructure, and the identification of the technical assistance needs of key players in Nigeria.

In his opening remarks, Aliyu D. Abubakar, Acting Director of Renewable and Rural Energy Access, who represented the Nigerian Minister of Energy, said that the development of renewable energy is a priority for Nigeria.nergy, reminded the audience that sustainable development in our member states can only be achieved through adequate power supply. "Renewable energy is available locally and can be harnessed for power supply purposes. This would minimize dependence on imported fossil fuels and thus improve national energy security, reduce oil import costs and poverty. The idea behind ROGEAP is to provide solutions that will improve the living conditions of our population," added the energy engineer.