The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has finalized the framework for a $75 million Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Facility to support regional growth.
Announced by ECOWAS President Dr. Omar Touray on December 12, the facility will provide grants, loans and guarantees through competitive calls for proposals. Importantly, the facility will prioritize clean energy solutions across West Africa.
“This is a new blended finance facility with an initial amount of $75 million, whose objective is to provide grants, loans and guarantees through regular demand-driven competitive calls for proposals providing clean energy solutions for the ECOWAS region,” Dr. Touray stated.
The initiative will facilitate funding for a 6,800km pipeline connecting Nigeria to Morocco, with future extension to Europe. The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline will feature a transport capacity of 30 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year.
Regarding food security, the facility will target the production of 33 million tons of milled rice, which will required between $15 million and $19 million in investment to improve storage, milling and mechanization.
Touray also emphasized the importance of regional integration projects, which includes the implementation of affordable tariffs, harmonized aviation charges and efforts to manage shared water resources and infrastructure.
