- This call was made at the Sustainable Energy Forum (ESEF 2020) of the Economic Community of West African States.
- The region still falls short of its regional energy targets as less than 600 mini-grids have been deployed compared to the 2020 target of 60,00.
The fourth annual Sustainable Energy Forum (ESEF 2020) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) highlighted member states’ progress towards meeting the regions 2030 sustainable energy targets. The virtual forum analysed the challenges faced by stakeholders towards the development of a strong renewable energy and energy efficiency market.
The ECOWAS Commissioner for Energy and Mines, Douka Sediko acknowledged the region’s renewable energy potentials are vast but will demand a concerted effort to mobilise the investments needed to explore these opportunities. He also stated that ECOWAS has created an enabling environment aimed at attracting investment in the region is also open for collaborations that will lead to a growth of the renewable energy and energy efficiency market.
The Acting Executive Director of ECREEE, Bah F.M. Saho described the forum as a platform for member states to assess progress made at the national level towards achieving the 2020/2030 sustainable energy targets. He informed that the region still falls short of its regional target of 60,000 mini-grids by 2020 as less than 600 is currently operational. He stressed that to meet the target of 128,000 by 2030, member states need to promote mini-grids deployment. He also made a case for increased collaboration with ECREEE to attain these targets.
Several high-level panel discussions were organised during the forum over three days. Discussions ranged from the role renewable energy solutions will play in attaining SDGs in the region to the role female entrepreneurs are playing as key drivers of decentralised renewable energy solutions.