On December 21, 2022, the World Bank approved a $311 million in funding under the Regional Emergency Response Project in the Energy Sector solar energy (RESPITE). A project that will be deployed in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Chad and Togo.

Engaged by International Development Association (IDA), RESPITE includes a $20 million grant to the West Africa Power Pool (WAPP) to help it fulfill its regional mandate and facilitate future regional electricity trade.

The new project aims to strengthen regional integration in the participating countries and increase grid-connected renewable energy capacity. It will finance the installation and operation of approximately 106 megawatts of solar photovoltaic energy with battery energy storage systems, the expansion of 41 megawatts of hydroelectric capacity, and the distribution and transmission of electricity in the four countries.

West Africa has one of the lowest electrification rates and some of the highest electricity costs in sub-Saharan Africa. Rising oil prices have increased the obligations of power companies and faces the country with an acute electricity supply crisis that threatens to jeopardize their economic growth.