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ECOWAS Regional Electricity Market Launched in Cotonou

by on 23 November 2016in Programme update No comment

The President of Benin, Mr. Patrice Talon, on Friday, 29th June 2018 launched the much-awaited ECOWAS Regional Electricity Market in Cotonou.

The launch was the climax of a series of high-level meetings held from 25th to 29th June in Cotonou, all geared towards the official launching of the power market. They included the meeting of ERERA’s Consultative Committees of Regulators and Operators, ERERA’s 6th Regulatory Forum and the meeting of Ministers of Energy from ECOWAS Member States to fine-tune arrangements for the take-off of the electricity market.

The official launch of the market was preceded by an information and sensitization mission initiated by ERERA across ECOWAS 14 mainland Member States to declare the status of readiness for the regional market and that the market would be operated according to international standards and practice.

At a colourful ceremony witnessed by key players in the electricity sector in West Africa, including Mauritania and representatives of development partners, President Patrice Talon, represented by Benin’s Senior Minister of Planning and Development, Mr. Abdoulaye Bio Tchané, declared the market open.

His declaration was preceded by a statement by the Chairman of ERERA, Professor Honoré Bogler, that all the conditions precedent for the launch of the regional electricity market had been met and that the ERERA Regulatory Council has decided, consequently, that the ECOWAS electricity market be launched, according to regulations in force.

Following his statement, Professor Bogler handed over, for implementation, the signed ERERA resolution to the Chairman of the West African Power Pool (WAPP), Mr. Usman Gur Mohammed who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

West African Electricity Regulators, Operators, Others to Converge in Ouagadougou

by on 7 November 2016in upcoming events No comment

Major players in the electricity sector in ECOWAS Member States, including regulators, operators, and representatives of the Ministries of Energy and their counterparts from the Finance Ministries, will meet in Ouagadougou, the Burkinabe capital, to push forward the agenda of the soon-to-be-launched Regional Electricity Market.

They will be meeting on 16th November 2016 at the 5th Electricity Regulatory Forum organized by ERERA in collaboration with the national electricity regulator of Burkina Faso (ARSE) under the theme “Realizing the ECOWAS regional electricity market: Opportunities and Challenges.”

The forum “will afford us an opportunity to focus on the numerous electricity-related issues facing our region. We have huge but unevenly spread potentials, and we have to be smart”, said ERERA’s Chairman, Professor Honoré Bogler.

“Several years ago, our Heads of State determined that the region should pool resources and exploit and distribute them for the benefit of our peoples”, he stated.

Professor Bogler said electricity regulation remains largely unknown to the people and authorities in West Africa. He therefore expressed the hope that the forum would enable regulators to convince policy makers that electricity regulation is the best way to addressing many of the power challenges in Africa.

Part of ERERA’s mandate is to assist ECOWAS Member States without national electricity regulators to set up their own and contribute meaningfully to the development of the region.

The 5th Forum will be preceded by a two-day meeting of ERERA’s Consultative Committees of Regulators and Operators, also in Ouagadougou.

Participants at this consultative committee meeting will review the Regional Electricity Market Procedures rules, ERERA Rules of Practice and Procedure and will be presented the final draft of the Model Bilateral Contracts for the Regional Electricity Market.