The Economic Community of West African States Commission has announced plans to invest $380m in electrifying public schools and health centres across 18 countries, including Nigeria, Benin, Chad, and other nations in West Africa and the Sahel region.
The project aims to address the chronic lack of electricity access, which affects over 208 million people in the region, particularly in rural communities.
At a stakeholder forum in Abuja on Thursday, the Senior Adviser on the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project at the ECOWAS Commission, El hadji Sylla, outlined the goals of the initiative, which the World Bank, the Clean Technology Fund, and the Dutch government fund.
Sylla explained that the project aims to increase electricity access in rural areas by focusing on off-grid solutions for essential public services.
“The cost of the project is $380m, and we want to promote a new innovative chain to electrify public…