The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has disclosed plans to invest $380 million to electrify public schools and health centres in Nigeria, Benin, Chad and 16 other countries.
The commission noted that out of the over 406 million people residing in the region, 208 million of them lack access to electricity.
It added that about 70 per cent of the population with poor access to electricity live in rural areas.
To address the energy deficit, the commission said the electrification project would be carried out through its Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP).
The project is funded by the World Bank, Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and Directorate General of International Cooperation (DGIS) of the government of the Netherlands.
Speaking in Abuja yesterday at a stakeholder’s engagement forum on energising public institutions in Nigeria, the Senior Adviser at the Commission on ROGEAP, El hadji Sylla, said the project is aimed at increasing access to electricity in the ECOWAS region for rural communities.
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He said: “The cost of the project is $380 million, and we want to promote a new innovative chain to electrify public institutions. Our target is to electrify schools and health centres to improve the service delivery.
“We are piloting the project in Nigeria and Benin Republic. The project covers 15 countries in the ECOWAS region and four countries in the Sahel region”.
Speaking specifically on the implementation of the project in Nigeria, Sylla said the commission hopes to electrify selected public schools and health centres in the FCT, Niger and Nasarawa states in the next 18 months.
“For the pilot project in Nigeria and Benin, we are targeting 18 months for completion. But, the entire project in the region is expected to be executed in five years in the various countries,” Sylla said.