First National Stakeholder and committee meeting on solar electricity in CAR

Bangui, Central Africa Republic – March 12th, 2019 – The ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) is organizing a series of national stakeholder meeting in order to prepare the basis for the implementation of the Regional Off-Grid Electrification Project (ROGEP). ROGEP is a project financed by the World Bank to benefit 19 West African and Sahelian countries to enhance electricity access, through standalone solar systems.

The West Africa and Sahel regions are characterized by lowest energy access rates in the world. Of the 395 million inhabitants of these regions, less than 40% have access and it is extremely confined to the urban areas. Concerning the rural area, the current situation is far more serious. This circumstance imposes urgent and imperative measures in order to mitigate this status of affairs.

The Central Africa Republic has taken steps in that direction, by setting targets and adopting measures towards energy access, by specifically laying out objectives concerning the promotion and development of renewable energy. For instance related to the sustainable energy sector, the country has set to:

  • Increase the rate of access to electricity at the national level in the national plan;
  • Increase in the rate of access to modern energy for thermal applications;
  • Increase in the rate of access to modern energy for productive uses.

It is against this background in which the World Bank, with the collaboration of the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), initiated the Regional Off-Grid Electrification Project (ROGEP), in order to support universal access to electricity for the region by 2030.

ROGEP is an ambitious initiative set up to support 19 ECOWAS and Sahelian countries to enhance electricity access, through standalone solar systems (solar lanterns, solar home systems, solar water pumps, solar mills, solar sewing machines, etc.), with an overall budget of US$ 200 million.

For a successful implementation of the project, ECREEE has embarked in a sequence of national stakeholder meetings with the objective of supporting national stakeholders. The purpose is to support initiatives and activities that would foster industry collaboration with key stakeholders and promote meaningful dialogue for scaling up electrification through off-grid solutions.