- West Africa is set to jump-start regional market trading.
- The region has launched a 330KW interconnection line.
West Africa’s regional bloc has announced the launch of a 330kW interconnection line to supply electricity from Nigeria to Niger, Burkina Faso, Benin, and Togo for $568 million. According to a statement released by the group, upon project completion, all 14 member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will be connected and this will jump-start a regional electricity market.
The announcement was made known in an ECOWAS meeting held on Thursday in Niger. It was attended by the Heads of states from Niger and Ghana to launch the interconnection line, which will facilitate electricity trading in the region and extend power to Burkina Faso and Niger.
ECOWAS plans to pool resources to establish an electricity market to end blackouts that have blighted its member states for decades. The transmission project will be funded by the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the French Development Agency, the European Union with consideration from Nigeria, ECOWAS said, adding that construction work will be completed in 2024.
Two similar projects are ongoing — constructing a nearly 1,700 km line to connect Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, and 1,300 km interconnection lines from Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.